


A Matter of Trust

by InitialA



Series: A Matter of Trust verse [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst, Comedy, F/M, Fluff, Hentai, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-07
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:09:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27413266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InitialA/pseuds/InitialA
Summary: A miscalculation leads to hurt feelings, broken trust... Years have passed for once, but only months for another. Can they restore what both thought to be lost?ORIGINAL POST DATE: 2008cross-posting from old archives
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Series: A Matter of Trust verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002822
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. Fate's Cruelties

  
“INUYASHAAAAAAAAAA!” Kagome screamed, bucking her hips into his as his fangs sank into her collarbone. Draining himself into her, he sagged, and licked the puncture marks clean. Sighing with exhaustion, InuYasha pulled himself out of her, and lay down with is head between her breasts. She was breathing heavily, and smug pride bloomed in his chest: he liked that reaction out of his bitch. Kissing one of her soft mounds, he looked up at her. “Are you alright?”

  
She smiled at him, a dazzling, post-orgasmic smile. “More than. That was amazing…” She sighed, letting her head fall back.

  
He smirked, and lay his head back down on her chest. He listened to her heartbeat slow from their lovemaking, letting it soothe him. His ears twitched when she started to rub one of them slowly. “Is my bitch ready for another round?” He said with a slight teasing tone: she knew what rubbing his ears did to him.

  
She laughed. “Not unless you want me to sleep for a week. Gods that was so good… If I don't fall asleep in the next few minutes, I definitely would if we went another round. Maybe tomorrow night.”

  
He slid off of her, and she whimpered at the loss of warmth. It was December, and it had been snowing heavily since mid-afternoon. It was cold enough even with the fire going full-strength, and warm blankets, but being naked on top of everything else made things chilly. InuYasha kissed her forehead, then her nose, and then lingered on her lips. “We might make the villagers angry, with all that noise you make.” He teased, laying next to her and sliding an arm around her waist.

  
She huffed at him, cheeks getting red. “Excuse me, weren't you the one howling at the moon before you marked me?” He just smiled, drawing circles around the bite marks. She shivered, getting goosebumps from the feeling of his claws on her skin.

  
He took an ear into his mouth, lightly drawing his fangs down the curve. “You like that, don't you bitch?” He growled softly, his voice deep and lusty. She shivered again, nodding. He smirked, and stopped. “Good. Now move over, you're hogging the pillow.”

  
Exasperated and feeling aroused again, she smacked his shoulder. “You're such a tease.”

  
Moving over, he rolled his eyes. “Says the one who's been tempting me to ravish her for three fucking years by wearing that ridiculously short skirt. Keh, wench, do you know how many times I made that excuse to `look for demons' because of the hard-ons you gave me?” He asked, tweaking her nose.

  
Kagome giggled and snuggled in to his chest. “I thought you always looked tired after those… If that ever happens again, just come to me, and I'll… fix it.” She yawned.

  
Grinning lecherously, he whispered, “What if I just come _on_ you?”

  
She smiled sleepily. “That too…”

  
He kissed her forehead again, and wrapped his arm around her, holding her close as they both drifted off to sleep. “I love you, my mate…” He whispered.

* * *

  
She gripped the wood tightly; her knuckles were white. _Why…?_ Just that morning she'd returned, they'd run out of Ramen and he was begging her for it, and touching her in the most arousing ways while he was doing it. She'd finally agreed, threatening him that if he didn't do any of that in earnest later, she wouldn't give the Ramen to him. She'd left their hut, _theirs_ , the one he'd worked so hard on when she agreed to be his mate, their cute little two-room hut, and made her way to the well, telling him she'd be back in less than an hour, so he didn't need to follow. He'd listened for once, and had gone to make sure their wood supply was still dry after the snowstorm that left a foot of the pure whiteness behind. The village children were playing in it as she trudged through the snow, throwing snowballs at each other and calling out their giggly greetings to her as she'd passed.

  
How was she supposed to know that the well would close as soon as she'd gone through? That she'd twist her ankle half an hour later by making the twelve-foot drop without the usual graceful fall through time? Tears fell thick and fast now, and her knees gave out. He'd hate her, die hating her, always wondering why she'd never come back, if she hated him… he might even think she purposely sealed the well to keep him from coming after her.

  
It wasn't fair, she decided, sobbing against the ancient wood. They'd only been bonded for three days, _three days_ out of a _lifetime_ meant to spend together. Why couldn't the well have sealed while she was still there? InuYasha could have dealt with the lack of Ramen, or else she'd learn to make it from scratch. She'd still be with him… She cried harder, realizing that in all likelihood he was dead now. The InuYasha she knew was already over two hundred years old, and she didn't even know how long hanyou lived compared to full-blooded demons. Kagome attempted to get a grip on herself; she was hyperventilating, and crying hysterically. It was cold. She needed to get back inside, before she took sick. There was nothing she could do to reopen the well, she had no Shikon no Tama, and her powers would never work on it. She could however, take care of herself. Resting a hand on her stomach, she heaved the bag of Ramen over her shoulder and trudged through the snow, lesser and dirtier than in the feudal era; she could take care of herself, and then take care of their child.

* * *

  
He hated springtime. It made him want to scratch and roll in the gravel like a dog. It made his suits fit uncomfortably. It made him sneeze. But most of all, he hated it because it made him think of her. It was the season they'd met. It was the season she loved the most, with the cherry blossoms, and the promises of new life. It was the season they'd missed, the first out of many, hundreds of seasons, hell, even _thousands_ of seasons missed.

  
He didn't think of her much these days. At least, he tried not to, and told himself he wasn't thinking of her much, that he was doing his best to forget her. He'd stopped trying to figure out when she would be alive ages ago. It was all so confusing, he'd just said “Fuck it” and took things as they were. She wouldn't want to see him anyway. Not after what had happened. Especially not now.

  
A glint of gold caught his eye, peeking from a not-quite-closed drawer. Curious despite himself, he checked it, and found the old pendant. The one with their pictures inside, youthful, angry, silently screaming at each other as usual. He often wondered why he kept it, it dug up painful memories he'd tried to bury eons ago. A tear slipped down his face, and landed on the closed heart, startling him. Furious with himself, and threw the locket back in the drawer and slammed it shut. Grabbing his jacket and briefcase, he slammed his way out the door of the suite. Work would distract him.

* * *

  
Summertime in Japan was usually hot and miserable. It made everyone uncomfortable, it made the elderly drink cool beer and whine about the young in their newer homes with air conditioning, it made the young angry and stupid, but most of all, it made Kagome short of breath. Seven months into her pregnancy, and she had to be out walking through the hotbox that was Tokyo in July. Her back was killing her, her ankles were screaming in protest, and sweat was pouring down her face, her back, and she was sure there was a pool of it between her obnoxiously large breasts. Naturally, she stopped every few blocks or so, and sat down in an air conditioned store, or café, but laden with bags, she wondered why she was forcing herself to walk back to the shrine, when there was an amazing invention called the taxi cab zooming around her every four seconds, making her wait and stand in the unbearable sun at street corners, wonderfully fast contraptions that had air conditioning in them. Her rational self told her it was because the doctor had said she needed a little more exercise, after being cooped up for months with morning sicknesses that seemed to have nothing to do with the morning, and she was only following doctor's orders by taking a bus to her favorite baby-things store and then walking back.

  
The problem was, it seemed that the shrine was farther from the store than she'd originally thought. Maybe it was just the heat of the day that made it seem longer, or maybe she had miscalculated the distance, but her feet were killing her. She decided that as soon as she was across the street, she'd get into another café. She wished passionately that she'd thought to bring her own water bottle, instead of paying for water with lemon slices in every café she went into, but she consoled herself with the fact that it didn't cost much at all, and there was the benefit of ice. She kept telling herself that, as she started across the road when the signal told her to. Kagome labored to breathe, the black tar below reflecting the heat back at her with double the force. Her vision grayed, and doubled. She blacked out.

  
A man, moving with inhumane speed, caught her before she hit the ground. He checked for a pulse vitals; she was overheated, and no wonder, so far along with a pup. A car horn blasted into his ears, and he gave the driver the finger, gathering up woman and shopping bags easily to the other side of the road. People started to gather around him, and he waved them off. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed for an ambulance, and told them to hurry. The woman's face was flushed, and he worried slightly over the effects it would have on her unborn child.

  
He did a double-take. There were four precise puncture-marks on her collarbone, easily visible with the flowery sundress she wore. Blinking, he lifted the woman's head to take a better look. He paled. InuYasha swallowed hard, looking at the face of his unconscious mate for the first time in over five hundred years. _Kagome…_


	2. Found Again

  
Beeping. Why was there beeping? She felt a lot better though, cooler… Something pleasantly cool was on her forehead, and all around her. Her breathing sounded funny, almost like that robot-man in an American sci-fi movie she'd seen once. She tried opening her eyes. Why were her eyelids so heavy? The room was fuzzy, but she blinked and it slowly came to focus. It was too bright. Dammit, why was everything so weird? She moved her head slightly, and saw a woman standing there. Her back was to her, and she was talking to someone else, someone with long, dark hair. Was it a man, or another woman? The woman's voice sounded far away, so and echoed slightly. It mixed in with the deeper voice of a man… that one sounded familiar, but she couldn't place where… Things started to go fuzzy again, and she blacked out.

  
When she came to again, things were clearer. She was in a different room, with dimmer lighting, thankfully. Her breathing sounded normal, but there was still that infernal beeping noise. She looked, and saw it was a heart monitor. Hers and the baby's. She sighed in relief; knowing that her child was fine made her feel better than knowing she was fine. There was a small oxygen mask under her nose, she realized. The funny breathing she'd heard earlier was probably a larger one, not like the small tube. She looked up at the IV, which was dripping water into her arm. More than anything else, she felt thoroughly confused as to how she'd arrived in a hospital.

  
A nurse walked in. “Ms. Higurashi! I'm pleased to see you're awake!” She exclaimed with a smile, and checked the monitor. “Both you and the baby appear to be fine; there was a little scare of distress when you were first brought in, but everything's back to normal now. How are you feeling?” She asked kindly.

  
Kagome blinked, trying to process the information. “I feel confused. Why am I here?”

  
The nurse was now checking the IV. “According to the man who brought you in, you fainted from heat exhaustion. And no wonder, twenty-eight weeks pregnant, wandering around in that heat?”

  
Kagome blushed. “I was going to stop in a café to rest once I'd crossed the street… My OB/GYN said I needed more exercise.”

  
The nurse shook her head with a smile. “Next time, I advise you to take shorter walks, and not in this kind of heat. We've had seventeen people admitted already today from it!” She started to walk out the door, then stopped. “Oh, the man who brought you here is waiting outside; shall I let him see you?” She inquired.

  
Kagome was confused again, what man would have saved her, and then waited all that time just to talk to her? Curious, she nodded, and the nurse left. Moments later, the man with long, dark hair entered, and strode up to her bedside. “Stupid as ever, Kagome.” He said roughly.

  
Kagome stared up at him in complete shock. “Excuse me, but who do you think you are, talking to me like that?” She snapped. “Thank you for saving me, but if you've just come to insult me, you can turn yourself around and leave. I don't need anyone barking at me for my mistakes. And how do you know my name?”

  
He smirked. She blinked. That smirk was familiar. “What, don't recognize me?”

  
The voice was familiar too. He grinned, vicious amusement showing in his eyes, a piercing, near-violet color. Those eyes, she should _know_ those eyes. “I'm afraid I don't.” She remarked finally, still searching for something, anything, that might give her a clue.

  
The grin faded. “Who should I call to pick you up?” He said finally, in a defeated tone that Kagome _almost_ could place. “Are you still living with your mother, or do you have a husband or a boyfriend that could pick you up?”

  
She fell back on her pillows in shock. How could he know all of this?! “My husband is dead.” She said flatly, refusing to show the hurt that she'd accepted that afternoon in the well house. “He died years ago… And I could never have a boyfriend, not after him…”

  
The man looked at her with confusion, and a little bit of hurt. “You're pregnant though…”

  
She waved a hand. “It's complicated. Don't worry yourself about me, whoever you are. Just go back to your life, and I can get myself out of here just fine.”

  
He bristled at her dismissal of him. “Listen, bitch, if you think you can boss me around after what—”

  
Kagome's eyes widened with shock. “I-Inu…Yasha?”

  
He started when she said his name, his rant cut off. He looked at her grimly. “So, you remember.”

  
He jumped a little when she started to sob. “W-what the?! Why the fuck are you crying?!”

  
She threw the pillow at him. “You BASTARD! Why didn't you try to FIND me?! All these months I thought you were DEAD, and I would have to raise your child ALONE, and here you are in MODERN-DAY TOKYO, PLAYING HERO TO EVERY PREGNANT WOMAN WHO COLLAPSES ON THE STREET!!” She yelled.

  
A nurse popped her head in the room concerned by all the noise, but InuYasha held up a hand, signaling her to close the door and leave them alone. “You want months, you stupid girl?? I'll give you months, try FIVE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS of months, months wondering why the fuck my MATE left me when she was pregnant with MY PUP!! Wondering what the fuck I DID, that made her leave when I thought she'd been UTTERLY FUCKING HAPPY WITH ME.”

  
Kagome looked for something else to throw, but it was either too heavy or rooted into the wall. Finally she just settled for a metal bedpan, and whipped it at his head. “You IDIOT, why the hell would I want to leave you!? I WAS happy with you. I was DEVASTATED when I went to come home to YOU, and may I remind you that the only reason I was going back was for your INSAITABLE OBSESSION WITH RAMEN, and all I could do was fall twelve feet and twist my ankle when I discovered the WELL HAD CLOSED! I cried for WEEKS, knowing you were going to die HATING ME and there wasn't one blasted thing I could DO about it!!”

  
She was screaming herself hoarse, but oddly it was making her feel better. Her heart rate was up, she knew from the stupid machine sitting next to her beeping, and she would have heartily continued their argument if the warning beeps of distress didn't start from the baby's heart monitor. Panicked, Kagome tried the breathing she and her mother were going to classes for, lying back and rubbing the swell of her stomach soothingly. InuYasha had been about to say his piece, but has stopped when her scent had changed to fear, and the pup's was confused and stressed. His jaw was clenching, and his brain tried to figure out what was going on here. She had said months, not years, of thinking he had died long ago. That tied in with the comment about her husband being dead and having no boyfriends, though she was obviously pregnant. And then her rant about being a single parent… Which meant… Realization hit him like ice, cooling his heated temper faster than any `sit' ever had. “Fuck…” He muttered, burying his face in his hands, and then running his fingers through his hair. Kagome was still doing that weird breathing thing, but the pup's heart monitor was slowing back to normal. _His_ pup's heartbeat.

  
He fought the urge to beat his head against the wall. She was panting, but slower, trying to relax herself, now that she'd relaxed their pup. Kagome closed her eyes, tears still leaking down her face. She had to be careful. She knew that, she knew her temper caused distress, and it was only worse with this uncontrollable flood of hormones flowing through her veins. That was something else the doctor had warned her about, not to get so angry, that it caused problems. Sniffing, she reached up to wipe her tears away, but his hand got there first. He was gentle, and she opened her eyes to see him staring at her with a sad, puzzled look on his face. “I'm sorry…” She said, sniffing again. “I forget about my temper… I'm not supposed to get so angry, it's bad for the pup.”

  
He smiled, just a little. “I noticed. Is the pup…”

  
She shrugged. “I didn't want to know. I still don't. There's only so many surprises left in the world, it feels like cheating to find out early. It's healthy though, giving me an appetite that rivals yours… Keeps me awake at night too, it hasn't figured out that nighttime is for sleeping, and Mama needs her rest. The pup likes to use my spine as a kickboard too.”

  
She could have gone on if she hadn't noticed the look on his face. Inside, his heart was tight with emotion. Hearing her call herself `Mama', listing off facts about his own child he hadn't cared to find out about… He was surprised at himself though, finding the walls he'd reconstructed around his heart staring to crumble in her presence again. “InuYasha…?” He shook his head, and walked away, sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, staring at the floor.

  
An hour or so passed, and Kagome was checked out by a doctor, declaring her fit to leave, but with a warning to stay in the house for the next few days. She nodded, thanking him, and wobbled herself to her feet. InuYasha was there in a flash to help her stand. He hadn't said anything since asking about the pup, and she wasn't quite sure why. She also noticed he was carrying her bags, things from the pup store. She marveled at his ability to remain silent yet help her into a limousine waiting outside. She also marveled at the touch of the limo. “InuYasha, why…?”

  
He `keh'd, and refused to look at her. She smiled at his unchanging vocabulary. “It's mine. I hate it, but my dear brother insists upon it. Another flashy show of money, in my opinion…”

  
Kagome stared. _InuYasha_ _… owns_ _a limousine?! And what's this talk of flashing money? Don't tell me he's rich…_ She didn't want to bring it up, feeling it would make him uncomfortable.

  
The limo drove up to the shrine, and InuYasha helped her out. She wondered how long it took for him to retrain the driver not to open doors for him. She grimaced at the steps up to the house, but started the long process before he was even done getting the bags. He easily caught up to her though. “You're straining yourself too much.” He told her.

  
“I'm fine.” She retorted, huffing and panting. “I do this almost every day. So Sesshou-maru is still around?” She asked, trying to distract him from her.

  
InuYasha snorted. “That bastard will never die. And he's still loaded too, flaunts it everywhere, and he's still a jackass. The only decent thing he ever did was mate with that girl he had following him around. She's still here too, they did the blood-bonding.”

  
Kagome smiled. “That's wonderful to hear…”

  
He snorted again. “It'll be wonderful when he kicks the bucket and stops getting up my ass all the time about business…”

  
She sighed in relief when they reached the top of the stairs. Slowly making her way to the house, she decided their current conversation was safe. “You're in business together?” She asked.

  
He nodded. “I suppose you've heard of Mitsubishi? We own a large chunk of that, my brother invested a lot of Father's money in it when it started up back in 1917. There's a few others too, like Yamaha. Mostly car companies; the foreigners eat `em up.”

  
He looked back, worried a bit, when Kagome stopped. She was starting at him in amazement. “You… you actually own… Mitsubishi?” She asked.

  
He rolled his eyes. “Not fully, but practically… it hasn't always been a picnic, they nearly shut us down after the war, but you know how Sesshou-maru is. Come on, wench, you need to get inside.”

  
Meekly, she obeyed. She also listened when he told her to lie on the couch, he'd get water for her. She groaned when she lay down, however, when her child decided to do its other favorite activity: Irish step-dancing on her bladder. She struggled to get up, and staggered her way to the bathroom. She heard InuYasha cursing her to hell and back, but knew he would wisely not follow. Carefully walking back downstairs, (she'd missed a step and fallen two months ago, resulting in a trip to the hospital with false labor pains), Kagome `eep'ed in surprise as she was scooped up and carefully deposited on the couch again. “Oi, don't go running around, you need rest.” He scolded, handing her the glass.

  
She glared at him. “Right, because I'm going to fill up with more water while this kid does the cancan on my bladder.”

  
He flinched, and she was sure if he had his ears, they'd be pinned back. Speaking of which… “InuYasha, when did you become human?”

  
He sat down across from her. “It's a concealment spell. Hides my youki and my true appearance.” He held up his right hand, and an elaborate ring rested on his third finger. “That's why you could never sense any demons in this era. We've all gone into hiding, pretending to be normal humans.” His eyebrow twitched. “We just happen to be the more wealthy ones.”

  
Kagome longed to remove the ring. She loved him no matter what he looked like, but she had to admit, she missed his ears. He noted the look in her eyes. “Kagome… I can't. Not right now. Not with things so… confusing.”

  
She met his eyes. “You don't love me anymore.” She stated, her voice quavering. It had only been seven months for her, she couldn't imagine lasting five hundred years. He stood, and nuzzled the top of her head. “I never stopped loving you.” He said quietly. “But I don't know if I can trust you right now…”

  
Kagome watched him leave. She heard the door close, and set down the glass of water. Her hands trembled, and she lay down, staring at the ceiling until long after the sun went down.

  



	3. Emotional Hearts

  
He never called. She expected that, didn't know why it hurt that he didn't. She didn't know why she even thought he might. Sighing, she helped her mother with the laundry, using her swollen stomach as a table of sorts to fold things. Mama chuckled. “I used to do that when I was pregnant with you and your brother.” She told her.

  
Kagome smiled. “At least it's convenient for something. Aside from making my ankles hurt.”

  
Mama patted her shoulder, and turned back to loading the washing machine. “Pregnancy is like that, my dear.”

  
She sighed, and folded the last shirt. She was lucky her mother accepted things so readily. She'd been so worried when she'd become stranded in her own time, pregnant and confused, but her mother had soothed her, and helped her through the rough first few months. She simply said that while she regretted that Kagome would be a single mother, family stuck together through everything. That and, she'd added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she was hoping to spoil her puppy-eared grandchild. She'd felt immense relief after that, and even began to hope with her mother that the child _would_ have InuYasha's ears. Now she had other worries. Would InuYasha contact her? It had been a few days since he'd brought her home. She supposed she could always make the first move, but she didn't know how to get a hold of him. The idea of walking into the Mitsubishi corporation building and asking to speak to him was laughable. She had no idea where he lived, what his last name was, or if he had a cell phone. He might not even live in the city, he might have a house out in the forests. She smiled despite herself. Yes, that would be InuYasha, far away from humanity as possible until necessary.

  
Kagome jumped when the phone rang, and moved to go answer it. On the third ring, she answered it just before the machine picked up. “Hello?”

  
Her eyes widened at the voice on the other end. _-_ _T_ _ook you long enough, wench.—_

  
Pursing her lips, she replied, “My apologies, your majesty, next time I'll just let the machine answer instead of trying to walk on swollen ankles with another person growing inside of me.”

  
His chuckle made her shiver. _-_ _I, ah… wanted to apologize for leaving the other day._ _—_

  
He sounded uncomfortable, and she smiled: some things never changed. “It's alright. I'm sorry too. I put you on the spot, and I shouldn't have.”

  
He coughed. _-_ _Well, about that… we really should talk about this. In person, not like this. As long as you don't throw anything at me again, there's a lot of heavy things here and I don_ _'t want you straining yourself.—_

  
Her eyes narrowed. “Is there a reason I would want to throw things at you?”

  
He sighed _. -_ _I don't know. I'm sending the limo to pick you up, and the driver's going to help you down the stairs. Don't scare him off, he's te_ _rrified enough of me as it is.—_

  
The line went dead. She fumed. He was as infuriating as ever, not even saying goodbye. She had to smile though; he wanted to talk, and he still worried about her. She went upstairs to change.

* * *

  
He paced his apartment suite, looking around to check if everything looked fine. Not that he cared what she thought of his place; it was his place after all, not hers. Still, he wondered if she'd appreciate his tastes. Sighing, he stopped pacing, and squatted down on his heels, holding his head in his hands. Why did he feel like this? So anxious, so confused… Somewhere inside him was the love he still held for her. Surrounding it was years, layers of hurt from when she hadn't returned. Over top of that was the barriers he'd put up, to make him stop all the hurt, stop wanting to cry when he thought of losing her and his one chance at a family. But then there was need, pure, tantalizing need to see her again, be wrapped in her scent, feel her curves; she was beautiful, but being heavy with pup made her glow. He forced down the emotion, telling himself he would be calm. He couldn't lose control, scare her, scare himself.

  
He heard voices outside, and stood up. Sitting on the couch, he made a big show of making it look like he was watching whatever was on the big-screen TV when she walked in. He heard her gasp, and turned it off. “Kagome.” He said quietly, standing up.

  
She was staring at the living room in awe, and he couldn't suppress a bit of pride that she appreciated his style. She moved towards one wall. “Tessaiga… You don't wear it anymore?”

  
He grunted, sitting back on the couch. “I'd look pretty stupid in a suit wearing my sword, wouldn't I? I don't really need it anymore anyway… Not like I'm being hunted down within an inch of my life anymore, is it?”

  
She supposed not. She rubbed her back, soothing the near-constant ache that occurred there these days. Her eyes widened when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder, and her own hand was replaced by his strong, soothing one. She trembled slightly at his touch, his nearness, and fought the urge to throw herself at him. _He's obviously uncomfortable with me… oh that feels good… no matter what he's doing to soothe me…_

  
Her scent was spiking. She moaned, and her head lolled back to rest on his shoulder. He was nervous, he hadn't felt like this in years. He felt himself hardening at her scent, and panicked. Her eyes snapped open when he moved away abruptly. Feeling confused, she sat down on a chair. “Not that one.” He said quietly, and motioned towards a plusher chair. “You'll be more comfortable there. Do you want something to drink?”

  
Kagome sighed as she sank into the bigger chair. “Just water, the pup doesn't like it when I drink tea…”

  
He smiled faintly, and went to the kitchen. She heard him shuffling around, the soft chiming of glasses bumping together. Kagome looked around the living room again, marveling at the soft changes from feudal styles to modern fashions. Print-blocks that were probably hundreds of years old adorned the walls. The furniture was all modern, but most of the decorations, which were few as it was, were relics from years in the past. His tastes were simple, but elegant, and she admired that. InuYasha was returning, and set a glass of water in front of her. “I have to say, InuYasha… I'm impressed at your taste in décor. It's… elegant, but not overwhelming.”

  
He shrugged, playing with his glass. “I like it.” He said shortly. “And a lot of the prints are gifts from Shippou, little runt got quite talented as he grew up.”

  
Kagome blinked. “Is he… still around?”

  
InuYasha smirked. “Keh. Course he is. Him and his mate, and their thousands of kits…”

  
She gasped. “T- _thousands_?!”

  
“If you count the grand-kits and great-grand-kits, yeah; a lot of `em came in litters though. He wasn't too pleased when I tormented him about it after his sixth brood. Said I was jealous… He apologized after. I haven't seen him in a few years, but he called a few nights ago and said he and his mate were coming to visit soon. He'll be pleased to see you.”

  
She was quiet, taking in this information. She wondered how Shippou looked, all grown up. She wondered about his children too. “And Sango and Miroku… did they ever…?”

  
InuYasha snorted, and downed a mouthful of whatever was in his glass. “Keh, stupid, course they did. They had a grand assortment of kids themselves. Sango made him stop after their eighth, she was getting older and tired.”

  
Kagome nodded. “And how were the children?”

  
“The girls were as fierce as their mother, but one of `em took after Miroku. She peeped on the village boys a lot, shamed her mother half to death. The boys had their father's temperament, but Sango's ability to fight. Four of each,” He explained, when she looked at him inquiringly. “And each of them had a great load of kids, and on and on it went… I swear half of Japan is populated thanks to those two.”

  
She giggled, seeing how that could happen. “When did they go?” She asked softly.

  
He looked down. “Long time ago. Probably somewhere in the middle of the sixteenth century… Both of `em lived grand long lives, saw their grandkids, died with full, happy lives under their belts… Sango went first, broke Miroku's heart when she went. He didn't last much longer than her. Nearly killed their kids, dying so close to each other, but you could tell… he missed her too much to live too long.”

  
They were silent for a while, the only sounds being the clinking of ice in the glass. He sighed finally. “I didn't know.” He said.

  
“Didn't know what?” She asked.

  
“What year it was. When you were going to be born, how long it might be until you stopped coming back. I thought maybe I'd missed you entirely, that it was way after, that you had…” He drifted off, resting his forehead in his hand.

  
Kagome softened. “I never did tell you… not that you would have understood anyway.”

  
He bristled, but was silent as she continued. “I never wanted to leave you. I'm sorry… if I had known that the well was going to close, I never would have gone through. Or I would have asked you to come with me.” Tears fell down her cheeks quietly. “It's been hard. You don't know how scared I was, fearing I might lose the baby, lose everything I had left of you… I barely moved out of bed the first month, until the morning sicknesses started, and Mama told me it wasn't good for me to be inactive…” She realized she was babbling, and fell silent.

  
InuYasha regarded her with steady, violet eyes. She was crying again, and he wasn't sure if he was glad or not that she still unsettled him with her tears. “So… now what do we do?” He asked.

  
She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “I don't know… I can see if you don't want anything else to do with me. I'm not holding you to anything. I'll be fine, _we'll_ be…”

  
He snarled, grabbing her by the shoulders. “What kind of asshole do you think I am?! Abandoning my mate, my _pup_ and expecting me not to feel _anything_ about it?!”

  
She trembled again, and he realized he was baring hidden fangs at her. He was exasperated, and sat down hard next to her. “Kagome, I won't abandon you. I'm just… not sure how we're going to do this. What happened back then… that fucked me over hard.” He grimaced as the scent of fresh tears hit his nose. “I've got a lot of shit to get over before any of this will work.”

  
She looked defeated. “Ok… Maybe… maybe I should go, let you think things over.” She said, and struggled to stand.

  
He pulled her back. “No. Please…” He couldn't find the words to make her stay, soothe her reopened wounds. “Kagome… I'm so confused. But… I need to be with you right now… It's so… I can't…”

  
He growled again, and she laid a soothing hand on his arm. “I'll stay for a while, ok?” She asked quietly.

  
InuYasha nodded, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He eyed the large swell of her stomach. “Can I… does the pup kick?” He asked her quietly.

  
She smiled. “A lot. Here…”

  
She took one of his hands in her small ones, and placed it on her stomach. His eyes widened as he felt slight bumps under his hand. “Is that…?”

  
He felt her nod against his shoulder. “It's your pup, Papa.”

  
His heart was tight with emotion as he gathered her into his arms and held her close. She did her best not to cry; it was wonderful to be in his arms again. A single tear fell down InuYasha's cheek. “We'll work this out…” He said quietly, stroking her hair. “Together.”

  



	4. Of Ramen and Omelets

  
She didn't want to; at least not right away. She wanted to give him space, didn't want to suddenly thrust him into the world of a seven-month pregnant woman and the daily affairs of it. She argued, but it fell on deaf ears. So, that's why she was standing, two weeks later, with her purse and a small bag of her things in the middle of the living room as boxes filled with her life were piled into his spare bedroom. That much she had argued with him until he agreed, complaining that she was making his head hurt. She wished for the umpteenth time that _day_ that she hadn't taken the subjugation spell off of the prayer beads, knowing she'd feel better if his face kissed the floor at least _once_. Kagome thanked the moving men when they brought in the last box, filled with the pieces of the yet-to-be-built baby crib, and closed the door after them with a sigh. She hadn't even done any of the moving, aside from being brought here in a small black car and taking a ride up to the suite in the elevator, and she was ready for a nap.

  
InuYasha was at work, or that was where she guessed he would be anyway. He'd given her a spare key to the place the other day when he came to see how her packing was going. She felt the smallest twinge of discomfort at being in his home alone, and did her best to push it aside. She would feel better if she started settling in, and went to unpack. Clothes went into the closet, which was big enough for her to lay down in and her feet wouldn't be sticking out the door, (she would have tried it, but getting up again would have been another story entirely); the small number of baby clothes she'd already bought went into the dresser, which was elegantly carved out of cherry wood. Spare bedding also went into the dresser, in the bottom drawer, which she simply dropped it in and decided to fold it neatly at a much later date; preferably when she could see her feet again. She smiled to herself as she busily made the queen-sized bed, the headboard and footboard also made out of cherry to match the other furniture; maybe she'd just pout and ask InuYasha to fold things in the lower drawers for her. She laughed to herself at the mental image of him cursing under his breath, trying to make things neat, but she supposed he might have learned at one point.

  
She was placing all of her make-up and hair-care products on the vanity, also made of cherry, when she heard the door open in the front hall. His footsteps were light and quick, as they'd always been, and his head cautiously poked through the door. She smiled at him. “How was your day?” She asked, setting her hair-dryer in a drawer.

  
“Shitty. You all moved in?” He asked, in the tone of `don't ask any more questions'.

  
She nodded. “Almost. Some things I can't set up myself, like the baby crib, or I'll get to later on, like folding the sheets in the lower drawers.” She stood carefully, grabbing the top of the vanity for balance, and smiled brightly as she walked past him out the door. “Are you hungry? I was thinking about making dinner soon.”

  
She heard him mutter `keh' under his breath as she made her way towards the kitchen. “Wench, I didn't have you move in to be my maid.” He called after her, following.

  
“Making dinner is not a maid's work. It's a chef's.” She called back, looking through the pantries. “So what do you want?”

  
He leaned against the doorway, rolling his eyes. “Kagome, don't.”

  
She turned, holding two cups of Ramen in her hand. “Why not?” She asked, confused. “I can't blame it on you not liking Ramen anymore, most of this pantry is filled with it.”

  
He grimaced; she was doing the man's-heart-through-his-stomach thing, and coupled with his favorite food to boot. “I don't want you to feel obligated to do anything.”

  
She frowned, rummaging through the cupboards this time. “Who said I felt obligated to cook for you? You never complained before when I cooked before. You told me the other day to settle in when I was ready. Well, I'm ready, and this is how I'm settling in. Now shut up and go sit down at the table!”

  
He blinked, and did as he was told. She was acting like Sango had, suddenly wanting to redecorate hers and the monk's small hut at about this time in all of her pregnancies, and cooking all the time. _Nesting instincts, the old woman called it…_ He thought. He remembered the weary looks on Miroku's face when she'd finished ordering him to move things around to suit her needs that day, and gulped. _Please don't let her get like that, I_ **_like_** _how this place looks…_ His nose detected the heavenly scent of Ramen, and following it came her, holding both steaming cups and some glasses of juice on a tray. Smiling, she deposited one of the cups, a pair of chopsticks, and a glass in front of him, and did the same for herself. Clapping her hands together with an exclamation of, “Thank you for the food!” she dug in. He watched her, eating more slowly. “You never liked Ramen that much before.” He observed, watching her slurp down the noodles with amusement.

  
She glared at him over her glass. Swallowing, Kagome retorted, “You remember this is your kid I'm carrying right? I get cravings for Ramen a lot. Not so much on pickled radishes though, thankfully; and I do get as many cravings for oden, so I suppose I shouldn't be too worried about eating habits.”

  
He smiled into his dinner, and scooped up another big bundle of noodles. Eventually, she set her cup down, and watched him finish his meal, oblivious to her observation of him. He was neater with eating now, she noticed, less likely to shove it in his mouth like someone would take it from him. She also saw that his hair had a sleeker sheen to it, signs of regular care, unlike the hanyou she knew, who might have gone a week or two before she would finally dunk his head in the nearest spring and give it a thorough washing. He'd lost some of the youthful curve to his face as well, it was sharper, more refined, similar to his brother. She realized he was older than Sesshou-maru had been when she'd met him, so perhaps it was time his features were more adult-like, not like the teenager he'd appeared to be all those years ago. “You look… good, InuYasha.” She said finally, startling him to choking on his noodles.

  
She smacked him on the back a few times as he coughed, and turned red. “What's that supposed to mean?” He asked gruffly, clearing his throat.

  
“You just do. You look… older. You've grown up.” She said, not sure how to put it any differently.

  
He frowned. “'Course I did. It's been five hundred years, you thought I'd stay the same?”

  
She rolled her eyes, standing and gathering the empty cups and glasses, setting them back on the tray. “You haven't grown up that much.” She muttered, taking the tray back into the kitchen.

  
He swiftly cut in front of her and whisked the tray out of her hands. “Go relax. Find a movie on the television or something. I have some work to do.”

  
She protested, following. “You just got home! I'll find us a dessert, we'll watch something together.”

  
InuYasha gently gripped her shoulders, turned her around, and made her walk out into the living room. “It's not work-work. Rin is throwing a `surprise' party for my idiot brother's one thousandth birthday. I don't know if he knows about it yet, I'll be damned if he doesn't, but she's making me do most of the legwork. It's in a week, and she _insists_ I make calls to everyone who's attempting to put this thing together and double-check that everything's running smoothly…”

  
Kagome blinked. “Somehow I don't see Sesshou-maru appreciating a surprise party…”

  
He `keh'd. “He won't, especially since it's more of a ball than a party, but he's pussywhipped by Rin. He'll sit through it if she planned it for him. I won't enjoy it either; I hate big parties, but my dear sister-in-law _insists_ I be there…”

  
She giggled. “She grew up a lot too.”

  
InuYasha turned to go back into the kitchen. “She did. She's a lot like you, actually, doesn't take no for an answer, stubborn as all the hells, pouts to get her way—”

  
His ears detected the `whoosh' just in time to duck. “I do NOT pout to get my way!” Kagome laughed, armed with another pillow from the couch.

  
He turned and smirked. “Sure you do. Why else do you think you're not sleeping in my bed tonight?”

  
She turned a furious shade of red and whipped the other pillow at him, but her aim was off, and it sailed into the wall with a light `fwump'. He could smell the arousal on her, and the effort she was putting to hide it, and smirked again, going to load the dishwasher and make those calls.

  
Several, frustrating hours later, he raked his bangs back from his face, exhausted and praying that next time Rin got it into her head to throw a party, she would hire a planner. He wandered out of his home office, and saw the TV was still on. Kagome was curled up on the couch, sound asleep. He couldn't suppress a smile, and moved a lock of hair from her face. He gently lifted her into his arms; she tucked her head instinctively under his chin. The remote had slipped to the floor; he pressed the power button with a toe and cut off the poorly dubbed voice of Jack Nicholson. _I hated that movie…_ He thought vaguely, carrying his mate into her room. He pulled back the covers and lay her down carefully; InuYasha rested his hand briefly against her swollen stomach, feeling the feeble kicks against his palm. “Oi, pup, don't wake your mother.” He said softly. “She needs her rest; you probably could too.”

  
He tucked her in, brushing her bangs back carefully. He hesitated, then softly kissed her forehead. Not wanting to leave, yet wanting to respect her desire to take things slowly, he grudgingly backed out the door, took one last look at her sleeping form, and closed the door quietly.

* * *

  
Morning. He knew it was morning, he knew he should get up for work, but his body was doing that `twelve more hours please' thing. His ears detected the shower running, and he opened his eyes in confusion. _Who would be in my shower at…_ His eyes flicked over to the luminous digital clock on the bed stand. _5:28 in the morning?!_

  
He sat up, much to his body's discontent, and cautiously made his way out of bed. He reached for the handle of the bathroom door when the shower turned off. A pleased female sigh reached his ears as he heard the water in the bathtub slosh. He almost beat his head against the door as he remembered; Kagome was living with him now. Of course she'd be showering in his bathroom. There wasn't another in the apartment that had a shower. He knocked on the door. “Alright in there?” He asked tiredly.

  
“I'm fine! I'll be done in a bit!” She called back, much too cheery and awake for this hour of the morning. _I will never understand women._ He decided, and fell back into his bed, covering himself up and hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep.

  
Ten minutes later, he was dozing when the door opened. Kagome smiled at how he was sprawled out on the bed, clutching his pillow. She sat on the edge and touched his shoulder. He snapped awake at her touch, and relaxed only when she giggled at him. “Morning sleepyhead!”

  
He groaned and buried his face in the pillow. “Damn you, wench… why are you so fucking cheerful in the morning…”

  
She patted his shoulder. “I've been awake since four-thirty, and I'm all fresh and clean, that's why.”

  
He groaned again. “Woman, you _sleep_ at four-thirty in the morning…”

  
She looked at him oddly. “You never used to sleep so much.”

  
He propped himself up on his elbow, and looked at her tiredly. Kagome fought down a blush, and the lust that awoke in her, when she saw that he slept shirtless. “I also didn't work a ten-to-twelve-hour day, with more work at home, and have to deal with a bunch of blithering idiots… well, not as many as I do now.” He added with a wicked grin.

  
She pulled the pillow from under his elbow and whapped him with it. “You're such a jerk.” She told him. “I'm going to get dressed, and then make breakfast; any requests? I've perfected my omelet recipe.”

  
He groaned as he got out of bed, and looked at her. She paled and swallowed hard, and she knew he would smell the desire on her: he slept not only topless, but also without pants or boxers either. He smirked, but it was a feeble one: he was busily keeping his own arousal under control at the sight of her wrapped in a large towel. “Whatever you're making is fine with me.”

  
Kagome nodded once, and clutching the towel to her breast, she fled.

  



	5. Emotional Rollercoaster

The scent of frying eggs, with traces of different spices mixed in, filled the apartment. Still shaking the water out of his hair, his stomach growled in response to the interesting scents. _Getting creative with the spice rack, from the smell of it._ He thought, wrapping his towel firmly around his waist and going into the master bedroom.

  
He fingered his way through his dress shirts, ties, and slacks, thankful that his car, his apartment, and the office were air-conditioned. These were nowhere near as arid and cool as his old firerat had been in the summer. Absently, he opened the drawer that contained the garments. On top of the folded red cloth was the beaded necklace she'd cursed him with for so long. He lifted it, fingering the worn, violet beads. How he'd hated it, the curse it put on him; but how naked he felt, still, not wearing them. He'd been shocked when she had removed them, some months before they'd mated, saying she didn't want to hurt him anymore. He'd put the necklace back on later, telling her he didn't feel right without it's familiar weight; he also privately told her that he felt less connected to her without it. She'd wryly suggested putting the spell back on him, but he'd silenced her with a look, and said having it around his neck was enough. He knew she'd regret it later, the next time he irritated her, but in his own defense, he _was_ trying harder not to get on her bad side. Now, he weighed the beads in his hands, remembering the last time he'd worn them. How he'd taken them off a year or so after her disappearance, and storing them away. He'd already felt disconnected, a gaping hole in his heart, so he was trying his best to forget, and erase the hurt. Without thinking he slipped the necklace over his head, and moved his hair out of the way. A knot loosened in his chest that he'd never noticed before; the familiar weight of the beads was comforting.

* * *

  
Kagome was humming to herself as she fixed the omelets, a light blush staining her cheeks. She couldn't get the image of him, hair mussed from sleep and completely bare, out of her head. She wondered when her modest hanyou had started sleeping sans clothing. He'd done so before, but only in their three days together, and for obvious reasons. She thought about asking him, and the blush deepened. Her arousal wasn't going anywhere either, and she worried about what his reaction might be. _Especially after what he said last night…_

  
It wasn't that she didn't want to share his bed, nothing like that. She was concerned about how she herself would react to such closeness after so much time apart. She couldn't deny that she wanted him, but it most likely wasn't in the best health interests of the baby if Mama and Papa suddenly started dancing the horizontal mambo. She nearly groaned as the thought of it excited her more, and steadied herself against the counter. This wasn't going to be an easy day…

  
“Did you use the whole spice rack?”

  
The man she was currently trying _not_ to fantasize about waltzed into the room. She squeaked, and remembered her omelets might be burning. “No!” She exclaimed, her voice a little higher than normal. “I did not, it's just my new recipe!”

  
He smirked, chuckling, and left the room. She heard the door open and close, and his footsteps returning as she quickly flipped and folded the eggy-mixture and slid it onto a plate. InuYasha reached up past her for a mug as she fumbled with the glasses, his hand brushing hers, and causing her to blush again. “No caffeine for you?” He asked softly, going to start the coffee maker.

  
She shook her head, and observed the options in the fridge. “No, it's not good for me right now. Don't you have any orange juice, or apple juice, or mango juice… anything?!” She exclaimed, holding up the half-empty carton of milk in one hand and the pitcher of filtered water in the other.

  
He looked at her. “ _Mango_ juice? What is that child _doing_ to you, wench?”

  
She tried to ignore the chills she got at being called `wench' again. “Nothing, I've always liked mango juice. I suppose I'll settle for milk.” She said, more for herself than anything. “I'm going grocery shopping later though, your selection of foods is pitiful.”

  
He rolled his eyes as the scent of fresh-brewed coffee reached his nose, waking him more than the hot shower had. “My food selection is fine, thank you. I told you, you're not obligated to be my maid, or my housekeeper or anything. I have some chit who comes and cleans the place twice a week, and that's more than enough because she always moves things, even when I tell her not to. I never find anything when she's done, and by the time I do, she's back again. And it's never in the same place twice.”

  
Kagome frowned. “Why do you keep her on then, if you don't like how she works?”

  
He shrugged. “No one else will do it. I scared `em off. And I'm never home enough, or have all the spare time in the world to clean the place myself.”

  
That made sense, but Kagome still doubted he spoke the truth about it. She'd figure it out later: she was starving, and feeding for two, and the omelets were still warm. “Come on, mister big-shot businessman, let's get you fed before you go on and take over the world.”

  
He followed, letting the hot liquid pour down his throat. She was setting the table in the same way she had the night before, and gestured for him to sit. Almost immediately she was devouring her breakfast. InuYasha had barely sat down, and could only blink at her. Thinking it was better not to make any kind of comment, he simple spread the paper out on his side and scanned the headlines. He absently speared a piece, and almost immediately regretted taking a bite as soon as the array of spices hit his tongue. He forced himself to not spit it out for Kagome's sake, and quickly downed half the cup of coffee, not caring about his scalding tongue: if it was burned, it meant that the non-complimenting flavors wouldn't linger. “Do you like it?” She asked brightly, and he was floored to see her entire plate was clean; not only that, but she didn't look ill in the least.

  
He coughed several times. “Uh… Kagome, what exactly did you put in there?”

  
She thought about it. “You didn't have everything I normally use… Oregano, cinnamon, some ginger, a bit of garlic, a dash of fennel, nutmeg, salt and pepper of course… I don't remember exactly. Tastes good though, doesn't it?”

  
He hid a shudder as she ticked off about half the spices listed in a common mixture for curry. “It's... good, yeah.” He lied. “I'm really not that hungry though, never am first thing in the morning. I should get going though, I left a mountain of paperwork last night, and that bastard will have my balls if I don't get it done. I'll see you tonight, and no shopping, got it?” He told her as he grabbed his suit jacket and black leather briefcase.

  
She huffed at him. “It's not shopping, it's _food_. You can't boss me around.”

  
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I'm not bossing you around, I'm just telling you—”

  
“Telling me what to do is the same thing!!”

  
He frowned. “Fine, then _please_ don't go shopping. Or food-getting. Or whatever the fuck you wanna call it.”

  
She pouted. “But I was going to make oden tonight…”

  
His stomach, still unpleased with the meager offerings of disgusting food, nearly growled at that thought. “I have vegetables. You'll spend too much money.”

  
She frowned back at him. “I won't, I know how to budget my money!”

  
A muscle in his jaw jumped. “I don't want you spending your money on food that's going to be at my place!!”

  
Kagome stood, a fire alight in her eyes. “And I don't want to spend your money!”

  
“I have more of it than you do!”

  
“I'm still not spending it!”

  
“Who said I was going to give it to you!?”

  
“You just _did_!”

  
“Well, who said I'd let you go shopping with it!?”

  
“I did! I'm going whether you like it or not!”

  
He fumed, and slapped a credit card down on the table in the front hall. “While you're at it, get more chicken-flavor, we're running low!” He shouted, and slammed the door behind him.

  
It wasn't until he was halfway to the office building that he thought, _Wait, what the fuck just happened?_ He pulled out his cell phone and called the apartment. Instead of saying “Hello”, Kagome greeted him with, “What just happened?” He couldn't help it; he started to laugh.

* * *

  
“Rin, don't even tell me he has no idea about this.” He said wearily into the phone.

  
- _Inu_ _Yasha_ _-nii_ _ch_ _an, you doubt me?_ — Rin's cheerful voice asked. - _Sesshy knows nothin_ _g. If he did, he'd be attempting to get it out of me._ —

  
He sighed, wondering how his sister-in-law managed to pull the wool over his brother's eyes time and time again. “Well, I'll still be glad when this is over… I did remember to tell you the florist fears for his life, right? And how I really don't think Sesshou-maru would want flowers in the first place?”

  
- _Of course you did, silly. And the flowers are for the ladies to appreciate. It's a hostess' job to appeal to everyone._ —

  
InuYasha barely had a chance to think why _he_ was doing all the work if _she_ was playing hostess when she turned serious. - _You really should try to find Kagome, you know. It reflects badly on the family that you've abandoned your mate. And at this big of a party_ _, there will be whispers_ _…_ —

  
He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He hadn't gotten around to talking about that with her, as many times in the last few weeks she'd been pestering him about last-minute details. Apparently he wasn't snapping back at her as fast as he'd normally done, because she asked quietly, - _D_ _id something happen?—_

  
He decided it would be better to just get out with it. “I did find her.” He ignored Rin's excited gasp. “It was purely accidental too. She was fainting in the middle of the road about three weeks ago and I caught her. I had no idea it was her, I just thought it was this crazy, pregnant lady wandering around in the middle of the city.”

  
- _Pregnant? She didn't… did she?_ —

  
“It's mine…” He said quietly. “The well closed for her only seven months ago.”

  
- _You're such an idiot.—_ Rin told him. - _You didn't even know? Or did you just not care_ _enough to find out_ _?_ —

  
He didn't answer. He didn't know how to. He heard a sigh on the other end of the line. - _Well, figure it out, and fast, because if she's with you again, she HAS to come to this. Pregnant or not. In fact, it's better that she's pregnant, that—_

  
He growled. “Rin… please shut up…”

* * *

  
It was very late when he came home. He smelled the lingering odor of oden, and heard the TV crooning some sappy love ballad in the middle of a movie. Feeling a bit guilty, he saw she was once again fast asleep on the couch. There was a note on the table, along with the card he'd left behind:

  
_I~_

  
_Left you some oden in the microwave if you were hungry_

  
_at all when you came home. And I didn't go overboard on the groceries,_

  
_just enough to last us for another week or so. (and I bought extra chicken_

  
_Ramen for you too)_

  
_Love,_

  
_K_

  
He ran his thumb over the character `love', his face unreadable. Turning off the TV again, he gently picked her up and carried her into her room, as he'd done the night before. She stirred when he laid her down. “Inu…Yasha?” She murmured, sleepily opening her eyes.

  
“Hey…” He said quietly, pulling the covers over her.

  
“What time is it…?” She asked.

  
“It's late. I'm just going to eat the leftover oden and go to bed myself. Go back to sleep, Kagome.” He said softly, brushing the hair off of her face.

  
She smiled, and curled up with her pillow. “G'night…” He started to leave the room, and whispered, “Good night” as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

  
They were developing a pattern, he decided over breakfast a few days later. She would be up before sunrise, and take over the bathroom first thing, waking him when she was done. It was almost a test of wills, to see how long they could torment each other before finally thrashing it all out in bed; he noted that the smell of her arousal seemed to linger around her body longer and longer each morning, and he'd taken to relieving himself during his own morning showers, just to make it through the day without wanting to break something out of frustration.

  
He'd also decided to actually request something for breakfast, after that first horrid morning. He tried to keep it simple, something she couldn't experiment with, to save his poor taste-buds more agony. They'd have an argument, usually over something small and insignificant; it also seemed to be a test, to see how well they could still set each other off without seriously hurting the other. Usually those arguments left him more befuddled than the old ones had: Kagome's increase in hormones and mood swings also seemed to add to her lack of ever making any sense at all to begin with.

  
Oh yes, then there were the mood swings. On the one other night he'd actually worked a nine-hour day instead of the usual twelve or so, he'd watched, bemusedly, as she'd gone from perfectly cheerful to cold-shoulder, to piping mad, and finally ending in an hour long crying jag that refused to be soothed by him, the strangely large supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream she'd been compelled to buy (all of which seemed to be either Chocolate Fudge Brownie, or Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream), or even a bath. He also had no idea if he had been the one to cause all of these strange, disconnected adventures through the female mind, or if it had just been something she'd seen on TV or read in a book or magazine that day. InuYasha felt it was better if he didn't ask. The days he hadn't made it home early, she was usually found asleep on the couch, with a note on the table about dinner. He always carried her to bed, and more often than not she slept through the transfer. It was a nice pattern, he realized. They could settle into this way of doing things, this system, and easily do it the rest of their lives.

  
He still had yet to tell her about Rin's extended invitation towards her. He supposed, with it being this coming Friday evening, he should tell her about it, but he hadn't figured out a way to bring it up, and she'd never mentioned it. He felt a little guilty about not saying she would be welcome to come when he'd first mentioned it; in his own defense, he couldn't see how he would have thought of it at the time. She smiled as she walked into the dining room with the tray, this morning's meal being instant-oatmeal, (again, something she couldn't experiment with). He decided it was now or never. “Kagome… you remember that stupid party is this weekend, right?”

  
She nodded, blowing on a spoonful of the stuff to cool it off. “With how many times that office phone rings and messages from various event-coordinators every day, it's hard to forget.”

  
He swallowed his own spoonful. “Well… er… you know that you're invited, don't you?”

  
She didn't say anything for a few minutes, and he wondered if he could have said it more tactfully. “Are you… sure that's alright? I mean… I'm hardly in the right kind of shape for such an event…”

  
He frowned, cocking an eyebrow at her. “I don't care what you look like.” He told her. “I think you're beautiful, Rin wants you to come, and we can get you something decent to wear for it.”

  
He ticked off the other two questions he felt would come next. Kagome was staring at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Y-You think…”

  
He panicked. “Aww, c'mon, Kagome, don't cry about it!” _Goddamnit, it's to fucking early for her to cry!!_

  
She smiled, and dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. “I'm sorry… it's just… it's been so long since you've…”

  
He felt his ears go back in guilt, though she couldn't see them under the spell. _Have I really not called her beautiful since we met again…?_ “Well, I should've said it sooner. You're beautiful anytime, but now… I dunno…”

  
He turned red, fumbling on how to say his thoughts. It'd been too long since he'd finally opened up, and then shut back down; it was hard to open up again. “You… er… it's like… uh…” She smiled in encouragement, and suddenly, that was all he needed. “You glow.” He stated simply, and blushed furiously.

  
She stared at him, lost for words. He watched her nervously as she stood, putting her empty bowl and glass on the tray again. She moved like she was going to take his half-eaten dish, but instead cupped his cheek and lightly kissed him. He was, if possible, even redder when she pulled away, and was relieved to see she was also a light shade of crimson; he could also smell her arousal returning with full force, which didn't help the tightness growing in his pants. “Thank you.” She said simply, and took his empty mug and the bowl back into the kitchen on the tray.

  
She gasped when she was spun, and his lips came crashing down upon hers. She moaned as his fingers raked through her hair, and rested against her neck, tipping her head back to deepen the kiss. She grasped at his shirt, feeling weak at the knees, and his other arm wrapped around her back, holding her upright and fitting what he could of her against him snugly. They were panting when they broke, and stared wide-eyed at one another, faces flushed; the heady scent of arousal was heavy in the air. After swallowing once or twice, he said quietly, “I'll be home… early tonight. Really early… s-so we can find you something to wear.” She could do nothing but nod, and he cautiously kissed her forehead before fleeing, leaving her standing, dumbfounded, amidst the morning dishes.

  
Some hours later, Kagome was still reeling in shock from the passion she had felt, and doing nothing more than reliving the moment over and over again in her mind as she lay on the couch. There was an empty bowl and a spoon sitting next to her on the floor, evidence from an ice cream craving earlier (Chocolate Fudge Brownie today). She was brought out of her daydream by furious knocking at the door, and dim voices on the other side. “Coming!” She called faintly, and fought her way to her feet, resting a hand on her swollen stomach as she went to the door.

  
She peered out the peep-hole and was surprised to see two people with shockingly red hair on the other side. Curious, she opened the door. “Hello, can I help… you…?”

  
Her eyes widened. The man was staring back with just as much amazement. His voice was faintly familiar, but much deeper now with so much age. “Oh my God… Kagome?”

  
She gripped at the door, looking between the man and the woman. “S-Shippou?!”

  



	6. Tale of Two Kitsunes

They were sitting in the living room. “Kagome, when did you… how did you… I don't even know what to say!” Shippou exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.

  
She smiled back. “It's wonderful to see you, Shippou. And it's nice to meet you…”

  
She faltered, not knowing his mate's name. She smiled serenely at her. “My name is Itazura. And you must be the foster mother that my mate has spoken so fondly of.”

  
He nodded happily. Kagome wasn't sure how to respond, blushing and nodding. “It's nice to meet you, Itazura.”

  
Shippou was bouncing a foot impatiently. She smiled. “You're still a bundle of energy.”

  
Itazura laughed, her eyes filled with the mischief for which she was named. “He is. Four hundred years of painting and child-rearing hasn't calmed him down in the least.”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “Like you're one to complain. `Oh, koibito, let's go for a run! It's such a lovely time of day at 3:46am!'” He teased her in a falsetto.

  
She smacked his arm. Kagome hid a smile; she was glad Shippou had ended up happy with his mate. He turned his attention back to her. “So, why didn't InuYasha tell us you two had gotten back together?”

  
She pursed her lips, not quite sure how to explain. “Well… I'm not sure you can call us `together'. I know we're bonded for life, so maybe its just fate that brought us back together. We're working on it, but I'm not sure how to explain.”

  
Itazura smiled encouragingly. “Perhaps it's best to start from the beginning.”

  
So, Kagome did. She told them how the well had sealed itself seven months ago, and how she'd been preparing herself for single-motherhood when three weeks ago, InuYasha had saved her when she'd collapsed. She told them about their awkward re-acquaintance, and how he'd insisted on her living with him; she even told them how frustrating it was when he wasn't straight about his feelings for her, when he, seemingly out of the blue, tells her she's beautiful and kisses her in a way that's straight out of a romance novel just that morning. Shippou chuckled when she was done. “Well, you have to remember, he was pretty broken-hearted when the well closed. We had no idea what was wrong, just that Miroku found him screaming himself hoarse at the bottom of the well, trying to dig himself through to the other side. Miroku and Sango suggested that perhaps it had just closed on its own. InuYasha… well, I don't know if he ever believed that. He might've found it easier to deal with if he thought you had closed him out of your life, that he'd done something wrong. You know how he is, can't grasp the idea that fate does things on its own and he's powerless to stop it or fix it. Now, he's probably just being an idiot and refusing to see what's right under his nose. He _is_ trying though, I can tell; asking you to live with him and you two trying to work it out again, I bet he's thinking he'll make it up to you, whatever he thought he did.”

  
Kagome nodded, feeling it was true. “He hasn't said so much to me about it, but then again, we haven't really talked about it. He's always working, and I never think about it at breakfast…”

  
He nodded. “Well, next time just corner him and demand to know what his deal is.”

  
She giggled. “And look at you, all grown up and giving me advice on how to deal with him.”

  
He grinned. “I always gave you advice, you guys just never took me seriously, `cuz I was a kid.”

  
She felt another ice-cream craving coming on, and thought it was time to act the hostess. “Are you thirsty, or hungry? I was thinking about getting some ice cream.”

  
Itazura smiled coyly, holding up the bowl and spoon. “Another batch?”

  
Kagome blushed. The red-haired woman laughed. “It's alright, I know all about cravings; bearing nineteen litters does that to a woman. I'll help.” She said brightly, and went into the kitchen with her.

  
The raven-haired woman couldn't help but gape. “Nineteen? Not all at once, I hope.”

  
Itazura laughed. “Of course not, we spaced them out a bit. Kits grow fast though, I'm sure you noticed even with the short time you spent with Shippou. Our last litter, five girls and a handful, are all staying with friends back home in Canada, they're all just ready to finish secondary school. Their older siblings are all grown and with children of their own; the eldest even have their own grandchildren, it's so wonderful to have such a large family!”

  
Kagome smiled. “It sounds amazing.” She sounded a bit wistful, thinking of having her own large family, if a certain hanyou would get his head in the right place again.

  
The other woman didn't miss the wistful tone. “InuYasha will come around. He's dense, but he'll realize what he's doing to himself soon. He really did miss you; even I could tell that, and I came along years after you had vanished.”

  
Laden with bowls of ice cream, (“He'll feel left out, even if it _will_ give him a sugar high.” Itazura said with a mischievous wink), the women went back to the living room. Kagome smiled as Shippou dug happily into his snack. “So, you live in Canada now? When did you leave Japan?”

  
He spoke around a mouthful of ice cream, not caring if he was being rude. “'e `aven't always lived `ere, just…” He swallowed. “In the last hundred years or so. Nice place, lots of open forest. We've tried getting InuYasha to come and live out there near us, but his feet are rooted here, he couldn't leave. Before that… France, I think?”

  
Itazura shook her head. “No, we were back and forth between Spain and Ireland for a while. France was before that.”

  
Kagome blinked. “You've been all over, haven't you?”

  
Shippou nodded. “We left here around the time they insisted on the isolationism policy. That's when the art world was really Europe. We were in Italy for years, so many great masters and their apprentices and students… I don't think any of our kits have actually been born in Japan.”

  
Itazura shook her head. “No, the first litter was, that was just before we left though.”

  
Shippou frowned, then nodded. “Sounds about right… Too many kids later and I don't remember a thing about where they were born!” He laughed.

  
Kagome nodded. “It sounds like it. So,” Her voice took on a teasing tone, “who were all the famous artists you've been hobnobbing with?”

  
He ignored her teasing. “Almost all that you can think of. Van Gogh was a real character, not all there in the head sometimes, I think… By far, I think my favorite was Frida Kahlo and that asshole husband of hers.” He said affectionately.

  
His mate rolled her eyes. “Diego was a different man, but that doesn't mean he was an asshole.”

  
“All the time. He wasn't an asshole all the time.” He corrected her. “He straightened up a bit at the end. Frida was a delight though, such a different sense of humor and way of looking at things. I still don't know how she was able to hold all that tequila though… She could out-drink any of us on nights out.”

  
Kagome blinked, curious. “Wasn't she a communist?”

  
Shippou nodded. “She was, and she was dedicated to her beliefs. The idea was intriguing at the time, so we got to know her when we were in Mexico for a while. Messy affair with Leon though, we backed out of being active in the party after that; Stalin screwed the ideas over so much… Then again, no government is perfect.” He said wisely, with the air of one experienced in various government systems.

  
Itazura noted the look on Kagome's face. “We don't associate ourselves with the communist view anymore. We don't quite know what political views we have, but it hardly matters.”

  
The other woman blushed. “I didn't mean to imply…”

  
The fiery-haired woman smiled. “When you've seen as much as we have, sometimes it's better to just stand on the sidelines. It will change soon enough.”

  
Kagome didn't even realize how long they had been sitting there and discussing everything until she heard the front door open. Turning, she smiled broadly when InuYasha wandered through the foyer, rubbing his neck tiredly. “Sometimes a half-day is more exhausting…” He muttered to himself.

  
“For you, this is like a quarter-day.” Kagome teased him, getting up.

  
He cocked an eyebrow at her, and opened his mouth to reply; he saw Shippou and Itazura sitting on his couch, waving at him. “Hey, squirt, you finally got here.” He said, smirking.

  
Shippou frowned. “I'm not a kid anymore, you old fleabag.”

  
Kagome hid a smile; he was still shorter than InuYasha was, around her own height. “And I ain't that old. You wanna call someone an old fleabag, I dare you to greet my idiot brother like that at the party this weekend.” He told him.

  
“Hell no, I still have kits to put through school!”

  
Itazura sighed loudly, as she stood and caused both men to look at her. “Good, now that you've both decided to act your ages, hello, InuYasha, it's a delight to see that you're still being dragged through the office kicking and screaming.” She smiled.

  
He returned it, and she kissed his cheek when she reached him. “A pleasure to be on the receiving end of that wicked tongue as always, Itazura.” He told her.

  
Kagome giggled. He looked at her. “Let me change quickly, and we can get going.”

  
Shippou looked at her, head cocked to one side. “Going where?”

  
She watched her mate leave, replying absently, “Apparently Rin demands my appearance at this party, and he's taking me to be properly attired for the event.”

  
Itazura's voice was wry. “She's like that; feisty little thing. I assume he's footing the bill, as well? Rin's social festivities tend to require top-notch apparel.”

  
Kagome bit her lip. “Well, I don't know. We hadn't discussed it. I guess if he's coming with me…”

  
The other woman patted her shoulder. “Feminine wiles have amazing powers over a man's wallet.” She told her, as Shippou rolled his eyes.

* * *

  
She had balked at entering such a store, but through gritted teeth he'd explained the same thing that Itazura had: Rin expected her guests to be dressed to the nines. Still worried, he dragged her along as a friendly clerk had shown them towards the maternity gowns. Despite herself, she was still pleasantly surprised at the fine, elegant dresses that were before her. All looked to be made for A-list celebrities, it was amazing to think that such gowns were designed specifically for the expectant mother. Fingering her way though some of the racks, she selected several designs she liked, and went into the dressing room. Feeling bored, and surrounded by too many fluffy, flimsy, and pink things for his liking (Kagome seemed to like the varied shades of pink more than the other colors), he flopped into one of the low couches to wait. Several minutes later, his breath caught in his throat. She was elegant, standing with uncertainty in front of the three mirrors. The dress, though a pale pink, fit her shape perfectly: strapless, it hugged her breasts, outlining them with a snug band of gold that winked with sequins. The skirt of the dress draped and folded, lovingly showing off her pregnant stomach before falling to shuffle and whisper near her feet. She turned to ask his opinion, and was startled to see the look of awe on his face. Smiling wryly, she asked, “I take it you like it?”

  
He swallowed, his mouth dry. “That's the one. Damn all the other dresses, we're getting that.”

  
She smiled in relief; he liked it as much as she did. “It's just a little too long at the hem. I can't wear heels, so…”

  
A woman came up to her, draped in a measuring cord and carrying a pin cushion. She looked as if she'd been waiting to hear the words `too long'. “Need it fixed up, dear?”

  
He growled to himself, not liking the familiarity of the woman. “Yes, please.” She sighed gratefully. “I'll probably be wearing flats, so this length isn't going to work.”

  
Kagome was instructed to stand on an elevated cylinder. InuYasha watched her carefully, making sure she wasn't getting too tired, as the woman carefully made her measurements and pinned the hem at an appropriate length. “That you're done, dear. If you can just change and give the dress to me when you're done.”

  
He spoke to the woman while Kagome went to change, explaining the need for speed when fixing the dress. She nodded, more agreeable when he held up a bribe. She cheerfully took the dress from the raven-haired woman when she returned, and he led her away towards the jewelry department. She protested. “I have jewelry!”

  
He looked at her. “Unless you want to borrow my 14-karat cufflinks, I doubt you have jewelry for a party like this. You'll thank me.”

  
She was silenced only until they went to the counter displaying diamonds. “R-real diamonds?! InuYasha, you're insane!! I can't own something like this!”

  
He looked at her again, exasperated amusement on his face. “You women are so damn contrary. Singing about diamonds being a girl's best friend, then going and saying you can't have any. _I_ say you can, and that's the end of it.”

  
She paled as she looked at the prices. She gripped the counter until her knuckles were white. Sighing again, he said softly, “Ignore the prices. Find what you like, and I swear I'll get it for you.”

  
She nodded slightly, still floored at the costs. Another clerk asked if she could help, and Kagome asked to try on a simple circle of gold, half of it completely covered in diamonds. She shivered as the cool metal circled her neck, fitting it perfectly; InuYasha helped her with the clasp. She looked at herself in a small mirror, hardly believing this wide-eyed young woman wearing a two-hundred thousand yen diamond necklace was her. She heard a faint growl of approval from him, and smiled. She also tried on a simple tennis bracelet of yellowed-gold and square-cut diamonds, and chose gold hoops inlaid with diamonds for earrings. Feeling faint at the thought of owning such grand things, she barely heard her mate telling the woman to hold the items while they went for shoes. These prices Kagome could handle a little better, not as shocking as the jewelry. She picked a simple pair of gold flats, knowing she'd hurt herself if she was on her feet too long in heels, and feeling the need to finish the gold-pink match. However, at the counter, she nearly _did_ faint, even as InuYasha barely batted an eye at paying almost nine-hundred thousand yen for the jewelry, shoes, dress, and minor alterations to the dress.

  
They were arguing about it as soon as they were out the door. “ _Nine-hundred thousand yen!?_ ” Kagome was exclaiming in shock. “You let me choose things that cost nearly _nine-hundred thousand yen?!_ ”

  
He watched her with amusement. “Apparently you don't know that's about how much money I make in three hours.”

  
She was silent, staring ahead with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing in disbelief. He took advantage of her silence by gently pushing her into the car, and sliding in after her. “Now, let's go out to eat somewhere, I'm starving.”

  
That seemed to shake her out of her stunned silence. “You're _always_ hungry.” She told him, smacking his arm.

  
“Oh, so the extra bowl of ice cream in the sink wasn't from you? Shippou still loves sweets?”

  
She fumed at him. “Shut _up_!!” He only laughed, as the limo pulled out into traffic.


	7. Intro to Obstetrics

This morning was ham. Or bacon. Something pork. His stomach growled in appreciation of starting the day off with meat, as he dressed for the day. His eyes moved over to the beads. He hadn't put them away for several days, always debating on whether to wear them or not. He hesitated, and moved to take them, when Kagome poked her head in the room. “Come on, sleepyhead, breakfast is ready!”

  
He was startled, but before he could snap back at her, she had breezed back out the door. _Damn woman…_ He thought to himself, and looped a tie around his neck, not bothering to fix it just yet.

  
She was setting the table as he came back with the paper, and he realized, as his heart lodged itself around his Adam's apple, she was wearing only a lavender t-shirt and a pair of panties. She didn't seem to notice her lack of clothing, and sat down, oblivious to his state of distress. “It's getting cold, sit.” She said absently, spearing a piece of ham, and he automatically flinched at the `s' word. _Old habits die hard, I guess._ He thought, semi-glad he wasn't wearing the necklace: he might have pitched himself forward unconsciously.

  
He sat, and kept glancing at her over the headlines as he ate. She caught him once, and smiled. He blushed and quickly began reading something about busted sewer pipes in a downtown district. Setting her fork down, she looked at him. “I forgot to mention, I have a doctor's appointment this morning, and then a Lamaze class later this afternoon.”

  
He looked back at her, thoroughly confused. “Why are you going to the doctor? What's a… Lame-ezzz class?”

  
She held in a laugh; she was sure it had been a long time since he'd been confused on common terminology. “Don't worry, it's just a routine check-up, making sure everything's going well. And a Lamaze class is to help me be more confident when I go into labor, helps with breathing exercises, et cetera. It's to make the process more natural, so I won't have to ask for so many drugs when I go into labor.”

  
He was silent. “When's the appointment?”

  
She looked behind her at a clock on the wall. “Nine-thirty, I still have a few more hours.”

  
InuYasha folded the paper and groaned a bit as he got up. “I'll call off today, alright?”

  
She looked at him with mild alarm. “InuYasha, you don't need to, I can get there fine!”

  
He silenced her with a look. “I want to be there.” He stated simply, and walked into his office.

  
She was still staring after him when he came back. He gave her a bemused smile. “Hey, all I said was that I wanted to be there. It's not like things will fall apart if I'm not at work. I'm trying, ok? And you're not going out like that, are you?” He switched subjects, and she blinked, looking down at her outfit.

  
“Oh, no; I'm not done getting dressed yet.” She remarked casually, and began clearing the table.

  
He watched her head into the kitchen when there was a loud knock at the door. _It's not even seven… who the fuck is it?_ He wondered, cautiously heading for the door. “Who is it?” He called irritably.

  
“It's Shippou and Itazura, dimwit!” The kitsune called back, sounding just as grumpy.

  
Opening the door, the two kitsune were looking disheveled and tired. Surrounding them was luggage. “What's all this?” He demanded.

  
“We need a place to stay. A bunch of sewer pipes burst under the hotel we're at, it's a mess.” Shippou said tiredly.

  
Itazura nodded. “We're sorry for disturbing you, but we thought…”

  
Kagome had come up behind him, and had heard everything. “Oh, you poor things!” She exclaimed. “Come in, of course you can stay.”

  
InuYasha frowned. “Oi, wench!”

  
She frowned right back. “It's my place too, they can stay!”

  
He was about to snap back at her, but her frown deepened, and he could have sworn she was _growling_ at him. Part of him wanted to submit to the pupped bitch, and the other part wanted to duke it out. His internal conflict stalled him long enough for the two kitsune to make their way inside with their luggage before he protested again. “Where are they going to stay then? And you're still in your underwear!!”

  
Kagome turned and gave him such a look of irritation he backed down, feeling his ears pressing flat against his skull. Shippou looked on in fascination. “Wow, I don't think I've seen him submit like that in years… Not even to Rin when she's on her high horse.”

  
Itazura smacked him on the arm. The raven-haired woman sighed. “You can stay in my room. I've been falling asleep on the couch most nights anyway, I'll be fine out here.”

  
Her mate balked. “Not happening. You'll stay with me, like you should be anyway.”

  
She paid no attention to him, and walked into her bedroom, saying she'd just get dressed quickly, and then they could take a well-deserved nap. He wasn't happy about being ignored, and Shippou patted his shoulder. “You're forgetting they're that moody when they're with kit.” He stated matter-of-factly.

  
He growled softly. “I'll talk to her later about it… It's fine with me, if she's giving you her room.”

  
Kagome returned several minutes later, wearing a denim jumper dress, a simple locket around her neck, and gold studs for earrings. She smiled and told the pair she'd turned down she sheets for them, and to go get some sleep. As they gratefully retreated, she spotted him sulking in a chair. “I'm dressed now, happy?”

  
His eyes flicked over at her. She suddenly felt a pang of longing for his intense amber gaze; this cool violet one wasn't quite the same. Her own eyes drifted to the silver ring glinting on his finger. “What's that locket for?” He asked.

  
She opened him, showing him it was empty; one half had a clip instead of a spot for a picture. “I was going to use it for the baby…” She said softly. “First lock of hair, picture…”

  
His anger faded somewhat. His thoughts flicked back to his own locket, old and battered in a drawer not far from where he sat. He stood up and opened its drawer. She watched him bring something over to her, and gasped at the old locket she'd made for him, just before their fight with Kaguya. “That was years ago…” She whispered. “You… you kept it?”

  
He flicked it open with a fingernail, and caressed her cheek with one hand. “It was… the only way I could see you… remind me of how vibrant and alive you always were… are…”

  
He was making her tremble again. He could feel it as his fingers lingered on her face. A warm tear slipped between his fingers, and she buried her face into his shirt, weeping quietly. Alarmed and confused, though that state of mind was never very far these days, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair soothingly. Breathing deeply and trying to calm down, she was quietly surprised at the soothing, low rumbles coming from his chest. She also realized that he was taller; she supposed that she should have noticed before, but with the lack of close contact until recently… She supposed he was around the same height as Sesshou-maru now, if not a little taller. She felt very small and sheltered like this, the top of her head barely reaching over his shoulder, cocooned in his strong arms. He tilted her chin up to look at him. “Keh. What was that for?” He asked, probably more gruffly than he would have originally intended.

  
She shook her head. “Just a little emotional… I never saw you wearing it after we finished that battle, so I thought maybe… you'd gotten rid of it…”

  
He continued to stroke her hair. “I kept it in a sleeve pocket. You sat me so much, I was afraid it might get damaged…”

  
She hit his arm. “Jerk… I'm sorry… I was cruel, wasn't I?”

  
He shrugged; whatever he'd thought at the time was different now. “I did deserve it sometimes. And sometimes I provoked you to, how cute you are when you're mad; sometimes to make you get angry and leave, so I wouldn't hurt you…”

  
She looked at him questioningly. “You're extremely attractive when you're in heat.” He told her dryly. “Moreso than usual.” He added quickly. “I wasn't sure if I could control myself sometimes, and made you want to go home…”

  
She nodded. “But a part of you wanted me to stay too, the part that always made you come after me.”

  
He nodded. She suddenly laughed. “Oi, what's so funny?”

  
She smiled, shaking her head. “Just thinking… how dumb we were…” _And how dumb we still are…_

* * *

  
The chairs were uncomfortable to him, so he could only imagine how she felt. She appeared fine, however, patiently waiting for her turn. She played with the straps of her purse absently. He reached over and covered one hand with his own. She smiled brilliantly at him, touched by the simple show of affection. “We're going to have to call you my boyfriend.” She told him quietly.

  
He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  
She raised one of her own in reply. “Because I told them you were dead when I thought you were.”

  
He shrugged. “Keh.”

  
He was still a bit sore at that, that she hadn't thought he'd live so long; then again, he'd never thought he'd live to be this old either. “Higurashi, Kagome?” A voice called out. She stood, and he followed suit.

  
They were led to a small examination room, and the nurse proceeded to take Kagome's vitals. A silver ring winked at her from the nurse's hand, and her eyes widened. The ring was the exactly like InuYasha's. He noted her surprise, and followed her gaze. His eyebrows rose. Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that Kagome, giving birth to a quarter-demon who might have demon-like qualities, was in the care of a practice that staffed demons. He got up to follow when she was taken to be weighed, but she held up a hand to make him stay. His eyes wandered around the room. _There are way too many pictures of boobs for this place to be for straight women…_ He thought with a smirk.

  
Glancing at the counter, he was intrigued by what looked to be a small breast on a plate. Ears strained towards the door, he picked it up. _What the fuck is this?_

  
He poked it; it was more of a model than a real breast. There were hard spots inside. Thoroughly confused, he inspected it, but there was no writing on the plate to tell him what the hell this thing was. Hearing footsteps, he threw it back on the counter and tried to look like he hadn't been doing anything. Only Kagome entered, and he heard the nurse say that the doctor would be in shortly. She almost laughed at the too-innocent look on his face. “What did you do?” She asked, sitting back on the examination table.

  
He looked guilty, and grabbed the model. “What the fuck is this?”

  
She laughed. “It's a model. It shows you how to check for breast cancer, and the areas that are most prone to have the cancerous cells.”

  
He looked at it, still perplexed. The door opened, and he whipped it back on the counter. The doctor, a taller woman with short black hair cut to frame her face, raised her eyebrow in amusement. “Well, well, it's been a while, InuYasha.” She said.

  
Kagome blinked. “Y-You know him?”

  
He was surprised. “ Kiyomura Miyako. The last fundraiser, right?” S

  
he nodded, smiling serenely. “Of course. And your brother's lovely mate has invited me to another one of her grand galas this weekend. And… I'm surprised to see you with Kagome here. She informed me that her husband had died.”

  
Kagome was blushing, and wasn't surprised to see an ornate silver ring on her doctor's finger. “It's kind of complicated…” She said.

  
“I'm her mate; some odd circumstances caused us to meet a long time ago, and when she came back to this time, she believed I might not still be alive.” He explained.

  
Dr. Kiyomura was helping Kagome lay back on the table. “Well, that must have been exciting, to find your husband after so long!” She exclaimed.

  
“It's been a very… overwhelming few weeks…” The pregnant woman sighed.

  
“Well, let's see how all the excitement has affected the baby then.” The doctor said soothingly. “You still don't want to know the baby's sex, I take it?”

  
Kagome nodded. InuYasha frowned slightly; he was dying to know, but he wanted to respect her wishes. He watched as Dr. Kiyomura pressed lightly on Kagome's stomach, and listened with the stethoscope. “Active little thing.” She commented, writing something on the charts.

  
The other woman laughed, shifting to be more comfortable. “Very. Keeps me up at night, and then wakes me up early.”

  
Dr. Kiyomura chuckled. “Well, it'll stop soon. Most of the growth now will be focused on putting on more weight, and he won't have so much room to move around in. To help with the sleeping, I suggest getting a lot of pillows to support your upper half; that seems to be a more preferable sleeping position at this stage.”

  
InuYasha made a mental note to buy more pillows. A machine was rolled out as the doctor put gloves on. “Alright, you know the drill. Clothes up.”

  
He looked away, blushing. When he looked again, she was putting a clear gel solution on Kagome's swollen stomach, and a blanket covered her lower half. “Come over here, InuYasha. You can get a better look.”

  
Cautiously he walked over, as Dr. Kiyomura turned on the ultrasound machine. He watched with fascination as a blurry picture appeared, and slowly took a more defined shape. “See that?” Dr. Kiyomura outlined a shape, explaining quietly. “Right there is the baby's head. It's normal that it's much bigger than the body at this stage; we'll see in the last ultrasound in September that he'll have grown so that he doesn't look so oddly-shaped.”

  
He grabbed hold of the counter, staring in awe at his unborn child. “You keep calling it a `he'.” He told her.

  
She smiled, and took another strange-looking instrument off of a hook. “It's much more humane to call the child a `he', instead of an `it'. The baby is, at least in terms of a beating heart and mostly-functioning organs, alive. As my patient here wishes the sex of the child to remain unknown to her, I cannot tell you if I'm saying he is actually a boy or a girl.”

  
Kagome smiled. “And here…” Dr. Kiyomura pressed the other instrument against the swell. A faint, rapid `thump-thump' sound filled the room. “…is the baby's heartbeat. Good and strong, it looks like everything's going very well.”

  
InuYasha now had to lean against the counter for support. “Is it… is it supposed to be that fast?” He asked, sounding shaky.

  
She nodded. “Yes, that's normal. It'll slow as the baby grows more, but at this stage it's normal for about 130 beats per minute. It varies of course.”

  
He had to go and sit down as she wiped the gel off of Kagome's stomach with a damp cloth. “Everything looks like it's going very smoothly, which makes me very happy, and you even happier. Now, I see here you were admitted for some mild dehydration and too much sun and heat exposure a few weeks ago?”

  
Kagome blushed. “Yes… I was just trying to get the regular exercise you told me to. I was stopping every other block or so to rest and cool down, and I was going to stop again just before I fainted…”

  
The other woman gave a wry smile. “When I mean exercise, I don't mean straining yourself in the heat of the day, especially this time of year. However, it looks like there was no damage done; keep active, but not so active as to overly wear yourself out, and stay indoors during midday. No mishaps before this last one, so I'll chalk it up as purely an accident. You've been a lot more careful than some of my other patients this summer.” She turned her attention to InuYasha. “I know you're busy running the world, but do remember to help her out. We don't want another accident, especially when anything at this stage could cause premature labor.” He nodded meekly.

  
“Well, if there aren't any questions, I'll see you formally sometime next month, and we'll talk some more about your plan for the delivery. And don't overdo it at the party this weekend.” She winked and left the room.

  



	8. Milkshakes and... Salsa?

Sitting in the limo again, she watched him carefully. He hadn't spoken a word since leaving the office, and she wondered what he was thinking. He glanced at her, and she gave a small smile. “Not too bad, wasn't it?”

  
He took her hand. “I… I can't explain it. Just…”

  
She gave his hand a squeeze. “Overwhelming? Amazing? Exhilarating?”

  
He chuckled. “It's getting close to lunchtime, are you hungry?”

  
She gave him a look. He chuckled again. “Ok, stupid question. Better question: where do you want to eat?”

  
She looked wistfully at the ceiling. “I could really go for some Wacdonald's… Milkshake, a big juicy burger, fries…”

  
She laughed as his stomach growled. “Ok, ok, we're in agreement. Burgers and shakes it is.” He told the driver where to go, and sat back, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.

  
When they pulled up to the small fast-food joint, he helped her out of the car. Despite his overwhelmed silence earlier, he seemed to be taking Dr. Kiyomura's advice seriously. She was touched when he held the door open for her. However, she had forgotten a small detail… “OH MY GOD!!” Three female voices shrieked; chairs scraped violently against the tiles as Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi raced over to them.

  
Kagome panicked slightly, and backed into InuYasha's chest. “Eh-heh… h-hi guys.” She said nervously as they crowded around.

  
“Higurashi Kagome, what gave you the idea to hide this from us?!” Eri demanded.

  
“You're so big, how far along are you?” Yuka gasped.

  
Ayumi just frowned. “You were pregnant at graduation, weren't you?!”

  
Kagome looked panicked, and her mate rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Well… er… I uh…”

  
He cleared his throat. “Why don't you all go sit down, let her get off her feet, and _calmly_ ask her questions, letting her reply? What do you want, Kagome?”

  
She smiled shakily. “Chocolate milkshake, lots of fries, and a big burger, I don't care what's on it.”

  
He left to get the food, and she was immediately whisked away to the table they had been sitting at. Kagome took a chair that moved out from the table. “One at a time…” She sighed.

  
“When are you due?” Eri asked.

  
“September 14th, if everything goes as planned. Yes, I was pregnant at graduation, I'm surprised I didn't hurl everywhere that day, my morning sickness was awful… And I hid it from a lot of people. I even changed gynecologists since you guys went to the same one I went to. Only my family knew for the longest time.”

  
Yuka frowned. “What about that guy? He's the one who did it, right?”

  
Kagome nodded. “That's my… boyfriend.”

  
They all raised their eyebrows. “The same one you've dated for years? I thought you said you broke it off back in… December…”

  
They put the pieces together of her fabricated story. “So, you're back together now?” Ayumi asked in a hushed voice.

  
Kagome nodded. “Just a few weeks ago. He… ah... came around, in a matter of speaking. We're living together now, he's got a pretty nice apartment.”

  
He walked over, smirking at her. “Pretty nice?” He asked, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

  
“You know what I mean, you big jerk.”

  
The other three women peered at him as he sat down and let his mate begin devouring her lunch. “You were the guy at the shrine that one time a few years ago, right? Weird red clothes, bandana?” Yuka asked.

  
He nodded, more interested in his food than the overly-curious females. “I thought your hair was white. And your eyes were like… gold.” Eri said.

  
He swallowed. “Keh. It's called hair dye and colored-contacts.”

  
They looked at each other and shrugged, accepting it. Kagome had to marvel at the lengths of oblivion her friends seemed to thrive in. Ayumi looked thoughtful. “I thought your Grandpa said you had lupus. Isn't that like, really dangerous if you're… y'know…”

  
Kagome raised her eyebrow at her friend. “I know I'm pregnant, you can say it, y'know.” It came out a little shorter than she'd intended it. “Sorry… He probably meant they _thought_ I had it. I never had any tests for it or anything.”

  
Again, she wondered at their ignorance as they once again nodded and accepted the story. Then again, she had been wondering at it for years, so why stop now? “Kagome,” Yuka interrupted her thoughts, “are you having a baby shower?”

  
The other two girls perked up. “Ooooooooh, yeah, if you haven't planned one yet, can we?? Please?!” Ayumi squealed.

  
Kagome blinked, taken aback. “Uhh…”

  
Eri was already ticking off things to do. “Oh, there's so little time, it's almost August as it is!! End of August I think, we'll send out invitations next week… You'll have to give us a list of where some of your female cousins live, so we can invite them…”

  
Kagome snapped out of it. “Whoa, guys! Please, only my mother, grandfather, Souta, and InuYasha know about this… I don't want to bring in the rest of my family.” Briefly she thought of her mother's mother, and a few choice words she'd have for her giving birth without being married—in the human sense, anyway. “It's really sweet you guys want to have a shower for me, but maybe we can just do a little girl's-day-out instead; and I promise I won't protest if you guys want to buy baby things.”

  
Eri looked a little disappointed, but the other two were more agreeable. “True… Plus it's not so much work this way.” Ayumi stated with a giggle.

  
“When do you want to go?” Yuka asked.

  
“Later on in August sounds perfect to me. Still early enough that it won't be too bad to move around, but not too early that having more of what I need would be in the way.” Kagome said, glancing at her mate. He seemed uninterested in their `girl talk', and was much more engrossed with his second burger.

  
She was silent while the others talked about what to buy, and where to go; she simply enjoyed the pleasure of fries dipped in chocolate ice cream. He glanced at her and rolled his eyes, nudging his head towards her friends. She smiled in understanding but her eyes told him to `Behave!' He smirked at her, cocking his eyebrow in a way that said `You know me better than that.' She felt a shiver go down her spine at the look he gave her, and looked down at her meal. He scented her arousal, and felt a small bit of pride swell under his chest that he could still make her spike with one look. One of the girls, he always forgot which one was which, distracted her with more questions, and he glanced at his Rolex. It was nearing noon, and he had no idea when Kagome's class was. He also pondered what it was about, having never needed to be `in the know' about such things; he vaguely recalled the name and when it had swept the expectant mothers of the United States up into a frenzy. It had something to do with breathing, which he found ridiculous because anyone could do that without being taught. Mentally shrugging it off, he resigned himself to the fact that he'd find out eventually, ridiculous concepts or not.

* * *

  
They were sitting, on the floor, in a room. It was just as sparsely-decorated and painted with bad colors, in his opinion anyway, as the rest of the building had been. Kagome said it promoted calm feelings. Whatever that meant; if calm was being color-blind and owning few possessions, he had apparently missed that memo a few centuries ago. He had said as much to his mate, startling a laugh out of her and commenting that she wasn't aware that he'd been color-blind. He'd replied that he wasn't, but according to his sister-in-law, he should have one of her home decorators over to piss and moan about his rather bland tastes in color variety. She was done giggling now, and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I like your place the way it is.” She told him, and he, blushing faintly, simply muttered “Keh.”

  
There were about nine other couples there: five looked to be young married couples, two were girls around Kagome's age with their mothers, and the other two he was sure were lesbian couples. His mate leaned over and whispered, “I liked this class because my mother felt more comfortable with the other two women who also had single, pregnant daughters.”

  
He nodded, eyeing the older women with the same curiosity as they regarded him. “They're wondering why I'm with you and not your mother.” He muttered back, scenting their confusion.

  
She took his hand. “Because Mama knows what she's doing during the labor more than you and I will, so we'll all know what to do when the day comes.”

  
A woman came into the room with a small stereo, and cut off whatever he was going to say next. “Alright everyone, welcome back, it's been a while since we last met!”

  
He immediately decided she was a little too cheery, and raised an eyebrow. “If you'll remember from our last meeting, we were starting to talk about the importance of keeping your body active when your labor begins. Who remembers why?”

  
She waited until one of the young couples raised their hands together. She smiled at them as the husband stated, “It'll help ease the pain and move the baby into position.”

  
Nodding, she clapped her hands. “Very good. While movement during labor might seem hard, it's not unlike keeping yourself active during your menstrual cycle. It won't eliminate the pain, but it will help, which is something you'll all be glad to know when the time does come.”

  
She paced a little, and InuYasha briefly wondered how many cups of coffee or Red Bulls she had drank before coming to class. “Now, there are cases where movement will be restricted. If you've gone into premature labor, it would be more wise to do things as your doctor suggests, such as in emergency cases for a Caesarean. You'll need help to move if you've taken any medications or an epidural, or if there's an illness that can damage the birthing process.”

  
She continued to go on about the advantages and disadvantages of this process, and he started to let his attention wander. Most of the other couples were listening with rapt attention; moreso the mothers-to-be than the fathers or partners. He caught one of the non-pregnant lesbian women nodding off and he reached over and poked her. She glared at him, and he just raised an eyebrow, looking towards her partner. Half-smiling, she stuck her tongue out, but she did try to stay awake after that. He realized he hadn't been listening to a word the woman had said when people started getting up, the mothers-to-be being helped by their partners. Turning red, he jumped to his feet and helped his mate up. There was some sort of loud music coming out of the stereo now, and his ears flattened against his skull in dislike. Kagome patted his hand in sympathy, and the instructor was calling out over the music, “Just something you can have a little bit of fun and move around to! Have fun with it, it's your day and your baby's day! It's your own little celebration!”

  
InuYasha gave his mate a look that clearly stated his opinion of her playing very loud music in his presence, and she laughed, and started to dance, trying not to move awkwardly or bump into people. He glanced around and saw most of the men making assholes out of themselves, as their wives laughed and encouraged them to keep moving with them; the daughters with their mothers were clearly mortified at the old-fashioned dance moves, and the two women couples clearly didn't care what they looked like and were dancing about wildly; as wildly as one can several months into a pregnancy. He realized he was the only one standing still, and awkwardly tried to move to the painfully loud music. Kagome seemed to realize his embarrassment, and took his hand, moving like he had planned to twirl her. She smiled encouragingly, and took his other hand as well, taking the lead in this crazy, nonsensical dance. He could sort of catch on after another minute or so, trying desperately not to make an ass out of himself by swaying his hips around like she was, but she flashed him her brilliant smile and he soon forgot there were other people to witness them, a man who probably couldn't dance his way down the sidewalk and a pregnant woman who could probably do without a few of those dance steps she was trying. She flowed, and he followed, lost in themselves, eyes locked together: excited mahogany and coolly amused violet.

  
Distant laughter brought them back, and he turned red again when he realized they were the only two still moving; the music had been turned off. The instructor merely smiled at them, as Kagome took his hand and rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand soothingly. “Alright, now that we've gotten all of that out of our systems, let's try a few ways to keep yourselves active if you're restricted on movement.” She told them, and guided them through an assisted squat, and kneeling while resting only your head and shoulders against a wall.

  
InuYasha wasn't sure how he felt about the partners performing the same exercises as the mothers-to-be, but Kagome whispered to him that it was supposed to make him more appreciative of what she was doing. He mumbled something incoherent in reply. He was already appreciative of what she was doing. She didn't know _how_ appreciative he was, and it struck him as odd how she couldn't know after all this time.

  
Finally, after a round of practicing their breathing methods, which he was pleased to discover were as stupid as he'd suspected, class was dismissed. He helped her to her feet, as some of the other young mothers came over to inquire who her new partner was. “Is your mom sick?” One of them asked.

  
Kagome shook her head with a smile. “No, she's fine. This is my boyfriend.”

  
Some of the women looked over him with appreciative looks on their faces, while their husbands sulked or glared in his general direction. He smirked, and then felt her tug on his arm. “Come on, sweetheart, I'm getting an ice cream craving.”

  
Raising an eyebrow at her, he smirked when she stuck out her tongue. “We might need to stop at the store though, I'm feeling pickles and caramel to top it off…”

  
Feeling green around the gills, InuYasha meekly followed her outside, praying to whatever god was listening that she wasn't expecting him eat with her.

  
“That wasn't so bad, was it?” She asked him when they were leaving the grocery a little later.

  
He shrugged. “Wasn't as weird as I thought it would be. That breathing thing is dumb as fuck though.”

  
She laughed. “It is kind of dumb, but it's the hope that we can just have something to focus on instead of the contractions.”

  
She rested her head against his shoulder. They were silent for a while. He rested his head against hers. “I do appreciate it.” He said quietly.

  
“Hmm?” Her reply was drowsy.

  
“What you're doing, what you're going through, what you went through… I do appreciate it…”

  
He heard her giggle, and heard the smile in her voice. “I knew that… And I'm glad for it, too.” He kissed the top of her head, and they were silent the rest of the way home.


	9. Festive Silence

Had he not been listening to her ticking off what the ingredients for dinner, yakisoba that night, and wondering aloud if they had enough to feed everyone, they might have avoided the unpleasantness that was soon to follow. Since he was carrying the grocery bags, she went in first. He had just closed the door when she shrieked. “What? What's—”

  
He stopped and could only stare blankly as she fled into his room; he heard two doors slam, one to his bedroom, and the other to the bathroom. Shippou and Itazura were blushing, faces as red as their hair, and covered themselves with a blanket. Scowling, InuYasha deposited the bags on the table. “Working on litter twenty?” He asked, his voice dangerously casual.

  
Itazura blushed further. Neither said anything as InuYasha went on. “Mind telling me why the couch was better than the bed?”

  
Shippou was mumbling, but he caught every word. “It's… it's Kagome's bed, it didn't seem right… And no one was home, we didn't think you'd be back for a while…”

  
InuYasha rolled his eyes. “Right. So you can't wait until everyone else in the house is asleep, like normal folks do. Try the bed next time, it's only been hers for a week, and warn me so I can sleep with earplugs.” He instructed, and went into the bedroom to see what was up with his mate; he heard the two kitsune scurry for clothes and disappear into the spare bedroom.

  
He knocked on the bathroom door. “Can I come in?” He asked softly. She made a noise, and he cautiously opened the door.

  
She was leaning against the wall, her face pale. He started to move towards her, and was assaulted by the scent of her arousal. Backing up, he tried to get a hold of both his own arousal, triggered by hers, and his demon blood, churning to ease his bitch's inner turmoil. “You alright? He asked gruffly, fighting his own inner conflict.

  
She looked at him, wide-eyed. “I… I think it just hit me fully… He's not a kid anymore…” She said softly.

  
He frowned. “Nineteen broods, a mate, and five hundred years under his belt didn't tip you off earlier?”

  
She shook her head. “Not like that… He still acts child-like, so bouncy and cheerful… I guess I was still thinking he was a child with a close friend, just a bit bigger…”

  
The scent was fading; lingering, but lessening in its strength. He thumbed his nose, trying not to notice it so much. She blushed when she saw it, remembering his sense of smell, and hurried past him without another word.

  
Dinner that night was very quiet. Shippou and Itazura seemed shamed to silence, Kagome was mortified by her reaction to the scene earlier, and InuYasha was fighting with his emotions. When they finished, he wandered into his home office to distract himself. Kagome politely refused help with washing the dishes, saying she needed to clear her head with busywork. She did hand Itazura a box of microwavable popcorn and told her to make some for herself and Shippou, and find a movie to watch; she'd join them when the dinner dishes were done. The other woman nodded, and Kagome got to work. Scrubbing, she wondered what had gotten into her, to be aroused by such a sight. And one that included Shippou at that! Assaulting the pan more furiously than she should have, she felt ashamed at herself for thinking such things, especially towards someone she'd considered family, almost her own child. She also strengthened her resolve to stay out of InuYasha's bed for tonight, knowing it might take him a few hours before he'd cool off from her initial arousal; she also knew that unless she bathed tonight, he'd just get worked up again, and she was almost certain she wasn't ready for that yet, nor would it have been easy to do in the first place.

  
Several hours later, she was dozing on the couch as the two kitsune tramped off to their own bed. Shifting to find a better position, she sighed with content and was just starting to fall asleep when she felt him start to pick her up. “Leave me here, Inu… Yasha…” She said groggily.

  
He grunted. “I think not, you'll sleep in a proper bed.”

  
Wakening further, she shoved at him. “Put me down, I'm fine out here.”

  
Not wanting her to hurt herself, he lay her back down, but argued, “You'll be more fine in the bedroom.”

  
She shook her head. “No. I don't want to rush things.”

  
He flushed slightly. “Wench, I'm not going to rush things. Why the hell do you keep insisting on this `giving space', `not rushing' thing? We're _mates_ , we live in the same _apartment_ , yet you insist on keeping us separate!”

  
She frowned. “You insisted on that for months.”

  
He looked confused. “I did not, I told you—”

  
She sat upright. “Don't you give me that. You had to notice things were similar, almost the same! If you didn't, I swear you're more dense than I thought! Why didn't you come to the shrine at least? Or the school? Scented me out?!”

  
His hands clenched into fists. “I told you, I didn't know, I was too wrapped up in—”

  
“In what, work? Yourself, and keeping your misery?? Did you never think the well closed on its own and want to find out for yourself?”

  
He could hear the tears coming. “I swear—”

  
She cut him off. “No, don't swear, because I KNOW it isn't the truth, InuYasha. Did you or did you not want me anymore? Did you really not know, or didn't you care to know anymore?”

  
He came at her, temper flaring, but was thrown back by an invisible force. Snarling as he righted the coffee table, she glared daggers at him from under a moon-pale barrier. “Don't talk until you have a truthful answer. I'm tired of smiling and accepting your story. Maybe I did accept it at first, but this past week or so has made me wonder… I want the truth, and you can forget about coming near me until you give me it.” With that, she lay down again, her back towards him. Furious and feeling his claws drawing blood in his palms, he stalked off to his room, failing to hear her quiet sobs.

* * *

  
The next morning, Shippou was out first, and made a good show of pretending he hadn't heard the fight when Kagome woke and greeted him tiredly. She rubbed her eyes, and noticed he was standing well away from her, outside the barrier's limits. She sighed and let it down. “I'm amazed I can still do that in my sleep…” She said, more to herself.

  
He grinned. “If you put enough will in it, I'm sure it can last for a few days without tiring you.”

  
She gave a half-smile. “I might need it… I don't know how long it'll be before he finally fesses up…”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “Now here I am, trying to be nice and not talk about it, and you have to go and ruin my plans.”

  
She laughed, and her mood lifted a bit. “Thank you, Shippou. I'd rather talk a little, it'll bleed off the hurt and I'll feel better.”

  
He shrugged, and followed her to the kitchen. “I take it you want to hear it from him directly, instead of listening to Itazura and me?”

  
She nodded, and asked if he wanted coffee. He nodded as she started it. “I'd feel better if he told me… No offense, but with you two not here so much, I wonder how much is still true, and if he really does still care…”

  
He fetched a glass for her as she got juice. “He does, in his way. Maybe you've been apart too long, and forgot.”

  
She paused, her hand hovering over the lid. Had she forgotten so easily? After three years together, did she really forget him so easily after seven months? “I don't know, Shippou… I hope not…”

  
They were quiet for a while, Kagome completely forgetting the usual morning routine as she started a batch of pancakes. Shippou surprised her by helping, and surprised her further by showing her how to flip them in the air with the skillet. He tried to teach her, but mostly they went everywhere but back in the pan. She was laughing too hard to care much. He finally banned her from flipping anything more than a nearly-done pancake, to save the trouble of scrubbing the floors later. “Another of your talents, Mr. Artist?” She asked when she caught her breath.

  
He his grin widened. “Kitsune tricks, more than talent. You'll get it with practice.”

  
A yawning voice drifted into the room. “Don't let him fool you, he was just as bad two centuries ago.” Itazura smirked at her mate.

  
He stuck his tongue out. “If you want to eat, you'll keep your remarks to yourself.” He told her, and flipped another pancake.

  
A string of curses came from the other room, and the three looked at each other. “InuYasha.” It was nearing six, past what the hanyou had grown used to over the past several days, and they heard thumps as he rushed around, attempting to get ready.

  
As they were setting the table, he stalked out of the bedroom, scowling and looking as though he hadn't slept more than an hour the night before. Kagome ignored his glares, and acted like he wasn't even there. Shippou, feeling rather content from this familiar `I'm ignoring you-no, I'm ignoring _you_ ' routine, wasn't fazed, though his mate looked worried. InuYasha drowned his pancakes in syrup before shoveling them down his throat, and stood. “I'll be back early today, that bastard's party is tonight and Rin would faint if I showed up looking like I hadn't spent more than an hour on my appearance… Keep that in mind later.” He grunted to whoever would listen.

  
Kagome acted as if she hadn't heard him, but the other two nodded. He fumed at being ignored, but left without another word. Itazura looked at Kagome as the door slammed behind him. “Is it wise to feed his temper like that?”

  
The raven-haired woman shrugged, cutting another piece. “It might not be wise, but it makes me feel better…”

* * *

  
He arrived home early, like he'd said he was going to, and found the place too quiet for his liking. He sensed Kagome's presence nearby, but neither of the kitsune were around. Shrugging it off as leaving early, he dusted off his tuxedo, and began the painstaking process of putting himself up to Rin's standards. Every time one of her events rolled around, he couldn't help but think back to that scrawny little peasant twerp who'd worshipped the ground his brother had walked on, and how inconceivable it would have been to think she'd grow up to be one of Tokyo's most talked-about socialites. Most talked about because she didn't turn around and get divorced for all her husband's money every three or four months, but instead how devoted to her husband and his affairs that she was. Even he couldn't disagree with anyone saying what an interestingly matched, yet much in love, couple his brother and his mate were.

  
He didn't do much more to his hair than tie it back in a low horsetail, thanking the gods that it wasn't fashionable for men to wear a bow in them anymore, but he had his ways of making it look sleek and tamed. No need to shave, in all his seven hundred years; he took off his ring for a few minutes, making sure his claws were clean and presentable, and checked that last night's punctures were healed and gone. After brushing his teeth and making sure his mints were in his coat pocket as usual, (yet another thing Rin insisted upon; some of the breeds of lizard-youkai at these events could get rather bad breath), he wandered back to his bedroom in search of his cufflinks. He heard Kagome moving around the living room, and thought how uncomfortable the ride was going to be, and if she'd let him talk to her or if she'd ignore him. He seriously doubted she'd forgotten last night, and wondered if he should tell her before or after the party. Glancing at the clock, he decided after would be better; she'd probably get all emotional again if he told her now, and make them late—another no-no in Rin's book.

  
He stopped in the doorway, and swallowed hard; tuxedo pants were no good for erections. She'd swept up her hair, folded and pinned it in place, with some feathery ends sticking out of the top. It left her neck bare, to show off her necklace, and kept it away from her ears, leaving the hoops clearly visible. She'd tamed her bangs as well, letting them sweep away from her face. The dress still fit her perfectly, and left her with plenty of room to not worry about falling over the hem. Seeing her gave him the urge to bite at her neck, like some sort of vampire; not in a suck-your-blood kind of way, more of a I-want-to-make-you-scream-my-name kind of way. He fought down his urges, and cleared his throat to get her attention; she looked at him, and was vaguely amused to see him straining not to talk to him. _So he took it seriously…_ He pointed to his watch, and she nodded, sweeping past him without a sound. He sighed, resisting the urge to rake his fingers through his hair. _This is going to be a very long evening…_

* * *

  
It had been the most unpleasant car ride of his life, but if only he'd picked up on the hints of exactly how miserable this night was going to be, he would have stayed home and risked his sister-in-law's wrath. There were even more people here than he'd expected, and he'd practically thrown together the whole damn party. It was apparent, too, that Rin had spread the word not to ask about his companion, since most people he talked to merely asked her name and nothing further. He was also getting looks for leaving his concealment ring on, but if Kagome was going to be stubborn and continue with this cold-shoulder act, then he could reciprocate: he caught those longing glances towards the ring, and scented her desire to see him as he truly was. If she'd deny him, he'd deny her.

  
“InuYasha-niichan!” A familiar voice rang out. Rin swooped down on him and kissed his cheek. “I was worried I'd have to come and drag you out kicking and screaming!”

  
She beamed at him. He sighed, and gave in, smiling back. “No, Rin, I know how important these damn things are to you.”

  
Yet another thing to add to the list of things Rin amazed him on was how damn _cheerful_ she was. She could be unwaveringly strict when it came to social functions, demeaning to those who disrespected her or her family, but despite all that, she had no social rivals, only her dearest circle of friends, and constantly dazzled everyone with how cheery she could be when facing both the press and her guests. She'd grown up to be a beauty, taming her wild hair into elegant curls, with a spark of childish mischief in her warm, honey-colored eyes. Her figure left nothing for wanting, though she still stood only to the middle of her husband's chest—something she'd always joked about: “At least he's tall enough to reach the top shelves!” Tonight she was dressed in pale blue, a strapless dress that hugged her curves and had a long slit up the sides, with a matching, sheer scarf around her neck; her accessories were silver, with sapphires.

  
Remembering manners, he returned her kiss on the cheek. “Stunning as always, another custom?”

  
She beamed again. “Naturally. I didn't go for a big-name this time, I found a charming little shop that was just starting out, lovely dresses, I couldn't resist. And all the compliments I got on this one, I might have to keep going back. Imagine if they'd ask me to be their spokeswoman!”

  
He rolled his eyes. “Your dream, right? Aside from the other twelve or thirteen companies you speak for?”

  
She swatted at his arm, and grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. “Oh, you know with the girls grown I need more to occupy myself.” She said, handing him a glass.

  
InuYasha had watched in amusement over the years as all of Sesshou-maru's children, four of them, had been female. Rin had gone barren eventually, leaving him high and dry for hopes of a male heir, and instead started training his eldest, Sanae, to be his heir. He took the glass, trying not to sniff the faint alcohol fumes from it. “You know I can't hold this shit well.” He told her as they tapped their glasses together.

  
After taking a sip, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Then only drink that one.” She retorted. “There's water and punch as well for those who can't drink. Speaking of which, where's your mate?”

  
He fought the urge to choke on his small sip. Clearing his throat, he jabbed a thumb over at the tables. “Her feet were hurting, or so I'm guessing, so she sat down for a while. It's not like she knows many of these people, or cares to talk to those she does…” He added darkly.

  
Rin gave him a look. “What did you do?”

  
He glared at her. “I didn't do a damn thing. She got up on her high horse and accused me of wanting to sleep with her, which is apparently an awful thing for mates to do, and pulled some horse shit with a miko barrier.”

  
He was fuming, but she was calm, taking another sip. “And why was there a need for a barrier? Pregnancy hormones aren't that bad.”

  
He growled. “Something about me not wanting her anymore…”

  
Suddenly, he felt a bit ashamed, and it was possible that his sister-in-law's look had something to do with it. “So, she figured out your little lie?”

  
“It's not a lie. It's just… me being a dumbass and not being able to explain things…” He mumbled, but he knew she'd heard.

  
She sniffed. “Hmph. Well, at least you figured that out. Now come on, at least come greet Sesshy, before you two start barking at each other over work on Monday.”

  
InuYasha, being dragged by a woman half his height, wondered exactly what god he'd pissed off and when, to get a both a mate and a sister-in-law who knew exactly how to humble him and then rub dirt in the wounds after.


	10. Glittering Breakdown

Kagome stirred her lemonade casually, watching the glittering crowd with vague interest. It startled her at first, to see so many youkai and hanyou at once, but she was growing used to the sight. Most startling were the giraffe-youkai, standing at least a foot over the rest of the crowd; their necks weren't as long as their beast counterparts, only a few inches longer than a human's, but their legs made up for height. She was even getting used to the shocking pink hairstyles from the few flamingo-youkai. She heard a cough, and turned to see Dr. Kiyomura walking towards her. “You look bored, Kagome.” She commented, taking a seat across the table.

  
The raven-haired woman shrugged. “It's not my party, and I really don't know anyone here.”

  
She looked over the doctor as she took a sip from her glass. Her skin was darker, some shade of copper without the concealment spell, and there was a thin white stripe on her face, from forehead to chin, with a splash of white on her forehead. Her hair was styled to one side, with pieces falling across her forehead and face. “I'm going to take a guess, so don't be offended if I get it wrong… Horse-youkai?”

  
Dr. Kiyomura smiled. “Very good. Most can't guess that from my markings alone. They have to wait until I swish the tail before cluing in.”

  
Kagome smiled back. “There were a lot of horses in the village InuYasha and I met in. I picked up a few things from the farmers. So, how do you know Sesshou-maru?” She asked, changing the subject.

  
The other woman looked back to the crowd. “I actually don't know the Lord so much as the Lady. Rin and I met a few decades ago at a fundraiser my practice was asked to sponsor. We keep in touch, meet at social functions, the like. Her mate I've only spoken to a few times, very intimidating man. She won't hear a word against him though, insists he had the kindest heart under the icy exterior.”

  
Kagome too looked towards the dais where the youkai in question sat, looking bored. “He has his moments. Rin is the result of one of them, he saved her from death when she was a child, and practically raised her.”

  
Dr. Kiyomura eyed her with interest. “I must admit, I'm curious how you and your own mate met. He said the circumstances were odd ones.”

  
The other woman fought the urge to sigh. “Odd doesn't begin to describe them… If you've got some time to spare, I can tell you.”

  
The doctor nodded agreeably, and she took them back to the very beginning. Dr. Kiyomura was apparently an experienced audience member, gasping or laughing in all the right places. Kagome was just finishing the details of InuYasha's proposal to her last fall, when she felt a tap on the shoulder. “Kagome-sama, pardon my interruption of your story.” A woman began, and Kagome smiled.

  
“It's alright, I was just finishing. Can I help you?”

  
The woman had a mischievous glint in her honey-colored eyes. “Don't tell me Kagome-sama has forgotten me?”

  
Dr. Kiyomura stepped in. “Rin, it's lovely to see you. Yet another successful party to add to the scrapbooks?”

  
She waved a hand at the glittering crowd. Rin smiled. “Actually, InuYasha-niisan did most of the work. Sesshy would have discovered it if I did more than hand InuYasha-niisan a list of places to cover the works.”

  
Rin turned her attention back to Kagome. “So, he really did find you.” She commented with a small smile.

  
The other woman nodded. Rin helped her to her feet. “Well, since you and I both know he's being the world's biggest prick at the moment, I've left him with my mate for a few minutes. I'm afraid I must insist you need to greet Sesshy as well, he'll be pleased to see you.”

  
Kagome stared in wonder. “He will?”

  
The smaller woman nodded cheerfully. “He did always say it was regretful you two were separated like you were, you made InuYasha-niisan so happy. You know coming from Sesshy that's a big compliment.” The raven-haired woman didn't say anything, but followed her towards the dais.

  
As they were making their way through the crowd, InuYasha and Sesshou-maru were arguing. “Goddammit, Sesshou-maru, you know what your woman is like. If I could have gotten out of this, you know I would have, I hate parties more than you!” The younger brother snarled.

  
His elder was calm; in the last few hundred years, he'd taken up his late father's hairstyle, the long horsetail, and strengthened his resemblance to the late lord. “Nonetheless… I'm reassigning the American clients to you.”

  
InuYasha gaped. “You asshole, I already have half of Europe, you want me to tack on the American dickheads too? Take the whole thing up with Rin, if you're pissed off about it, don't dump me with more work than I can keep up with already!”

  
Sesshou-maru's cool retort was cut off by the arrival of their mates. “Sesshy, look who I found!” Rin sang out cheerfully.

  
Kagome stumbled up behind her, and blushed. She had been getting more and more clumsy as of late. “Hello Sesshou-maru.” She said quietly, bowing her head submissively.

  
InuYasha growled to himself, watching his mate submit to his brother while she continued to deny him. Sesshou-maru allowed himself a moment of surprise before regaining his usual calm. “The miko… InuYasha, I notice you failed to mention this…”

  
The younger brother grumbled. “Rin knew…”

  
She looked indifferent. “I did, but it doesn't make any difference. You should have told him yourself.”

  
He growled. “You're supposed to be on _my_ side…”

  
She beamed. “I'm on no one's side. Sesshou-maru should have guessed.”

  
Kagome had started to ebb away. Sesshou-maru's voice stopped her. “You are with pup, miko. I confess some puzzlement.”

  
She turned pink, matching her dress; mostly from being singled out, but also from keeping in laughter: Sesshou-maru was rarely found confused. “Well…” She paused, not really sure how to explain.

  
InuYasha snorted. “Keh. The well got sealed when she was in this time, after we mated. The pup's mine.” He explained shortly.

  
Sesshou-maru raised an eyebrow. “I was not certain that my half-brother's tale of this time portal in the Bone-Eater's Well was true.”

  
Kagome looked up at him, meeting his amber eyes; her heart skipped a beat at their color, forgetting they weren't her own mate's. “It's true. I used it to travel back and forth between the Sengoku Jidai and now for three years until it sealed itself.” She stressed the last two words and directed a glare towards InuYasha, who ignored her.

  
Sesshou-maru did not fail to notice the brief expression of longing that had crossed her face, nor the fact that his brother and the miko failed to acknowledge each other properly. “InuYasha, I desire refreshment. Bring something for the four of us.” He ordered.

  
His brother glared at him. “Why the fuck should I? Snap your fingers or something, call over a waiter.” He snapped, ignoring Rin's indignant gasp.

  
Icy amber met cool violet. “If you do not wish to add the Chinese to your growing list of clients, I suggest you do so.” He permitted himself a smirk. “It is, after all, my birthday.”

  
Rin giggled outright at the look of indignation on InuYasha's face as he stomped away. Kagome sighed, rubbing her back briefly. Sesshou-maru turned his attention back to her. “You're quarreling. And he is not allowing you to see his true form.” He stated.

  
She pursed her lips, painted a coral pink, and glanced up at him. “We are. You can guess he's being stubborn.”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “I imagine he isn't the only stubborn one. I wonder what it is you're quarreling about.”

  
Kagome flushed. “I'm not being stubborn! If he'd just tell me what was going on in his head, I'd-”

  
She started, her temper flaring, but Rin set a calming hand on her shoulder. “Kagome-sama, if everyone got so heated about InuYasha-niisan not divulging his innermost thoughts, there would be more than just talk of global warming.” She said soothingly. “He's like that. And I'm sure he'll come around soon—ah! Just as expected, here he is now. I hope that's the Romane Conti, niichan, I need a bit of wine.” She said cheerfully, taking the glass from him.

  
He raised an eyebrow as he passed non-alcoholic beverages to both his brother and Kagome, who looked slightly subdued. He also had a glass of fruit punch; even the small amount of alcohol in the champagne was fuzzing his sensitive senses, and didn't want to risk doing anything more stupid than usual. “I think you lied when you said you always just wanted to sample all the expensive drinks you buy for these things.” He told her wryly. “You just want to make up for those of us who can't hold it.”

  
Rin smiled. “Of course not, it would shame the family to no end if I was drunk out of my mind. Small glasses to last a while, and no more.” Taking a sip of the dark wine, she added, “Though I do admit it's a perk to being human.”

  
InuYasha pondered over what he'd heard while coming back, Kagome being angry that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear, while his brother and Rin began asking questions about the baby. He'd already decided to tell her that night, yet he still didn't know how to go about doing it. Especially if she used her miko powers again—there went both theories that mating with demons or carrying a child would weaken or destroy a miko's powers. He supposed he could head all attacks off by hoping she'd be too tired to resist him after tonight, but remembering the previous night, he seriously doubted he could rely on weariness. He was brought back when Rin poked him in the arm with one of her nails. “Niisan, we're talking to you!” She chirped.

  
He looked at them blankly. “What?”

  
Kagome gave a small smile as Sesshou-maru made a noise that, in a lesser man, would have been called a sigh. “The previously asked question pertained towards the naming of the pup. Have you decided on anything as of yet?”

  
InuYasha blinked in surprise. “Considering that I just found out I was still going to have a pup a month ago, no, we haven't decided on names. And we haven't discussed it either.” _And if she doesn't believe me later, we might not ever…_

  
Sesshou-maru regarded him. “Be sure to run your chosen names by me when you decide.”

  
InuYasha frowned. “Why?”

  
He was met with yet another cold amber gaze. “As head of the family, I'm bound to state the approval of the names you choose.”

  
Kagome stepped in b efore another argument started. “I'll make sure of it.” The elder brother simply nodded.

  
Rin looked up as the hired musicians began their set. “Oh good, they're just on time. Come on, Sesshy.”

  
She cheerfully took her husband's hand and dragged him towards the crowd, who were pairing off with one another for the dancing portion. Kagome suppressed a laugh as she heard him protest slightly. “Rin! This Sesshou-maru does not—” She also heard Rin's reply. “Oh, don't give me that. Stop being such a sissy.”

  
She took a seat in a chair, grateful that they'd gone so she could sit without feeling rude. “The great Lord of the West, tamed and humbled by a small human woman.” She remarked softly.

  
“Keh…” InuYasha didn't say any more, unsure if her speaking was a sign that he was permitted to talk again. The pair watched the glittering crowd begin a waltz, with an elegantly disgruntled-looking Sesshou-maru in the middle of it all with his mate; his silver horsetail stood out amongst the other colors.

  
After the first several songs were through, some of the crowd had left to the caterers and the tables. Kagome had gone for dinner before the rush, with InuYasha trailing behind, and was on her third plate before Rin and Sesshou-maru returned with their own dinners. “You seem to have a healthy appetite.” The smaller woman remarked kindly. “That's good, signs of a healthy pup. My girls always gave me huge appetites, the servants went crazy with everything I kept wanting.”

  
Kagome smiled sheepishly. “I feel bad, knowing there are some who haven't had a meal yet.”

  
Rin waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, don't worry about it. Some of our guests can have hearty appetites, so I always warn the caterers to have plenty of refills. If they're that upset about it, they can stop at a restaurant on the way home and pay for it.”

  
Kagome laughed outright, and finished her string beans. After a while, when the crowd had thinned again, InuYasha stood. Without a word, he held his hand out to Kagome. She looked at him, puzzled, but cautiously took it. Still wordless, he led her to the dance floor; she was shocked to discover that he could waltz quite well, better than she, who only knew the rudiments. He was silent for a few measures, then spoke softly. “I know you think I'm this huge asshole… Just… give me the time of day later, and I'll try to explain, alright?”

  
She frowned. “Why not now?”

  
He returned the look. “Because I'm not sure you want to get overly emotional right now. I'd rather you just save it.”

  
When she continued to look unhappy, he sighed, twirling her around. “Please? Just… hear me out later.”

  
Returning, she gripped his jacket a little harder than she'd probably intended, tripping on her own feet slightly. He steadied her, and she looked up at him. “Alright…” She whispered, feeling weak under his gaze. The violet hue shimmered, flickering to amber briefly as he fingered the ring, spinning it slightly. She bit her lip, and had to look away, her grip tightening on his coat. Smirking slightly, he loosened her grip, and began the waltz again.

* * *

  
It was very late when they returned. Kagome was unable to walk once they reached his building, but he had no qualms about carrying her into the apartment. Shippou and Itazura had returned earlier, he could hear the slow, even breathing of sleep from their room, but as Sesshou-maru's brother, he'd been almost required to stay until the end. What made things better about carrying her was that he could easily keep hold of her until they were safely shut into his bedroom. Inside, she squeaked a tired protest as he set her on the bed, which was now covered in many more pillows than he'd originally owned; he'd stopped at a department store to get more, as Dr. Kiyomura had suggested. “Alright.” He started, sighing mentally. “Don't interrupt me when I start, because this is more difficult than it looks like. You of all people should know that. If you feel the need to start throwing things at me, or yelling, or purify me, wait until I'm done, or you'll never get a satisfactory answer from me, alright?”

  
She nodded, her eyes tired but watching him intently. “You asked if I cared at all, or if I did or didn't want you back.” He gritted his teeth. “You don't know how much that kills me, hearing you ask those things… I've wanted you back every single day you've been gone. I cared so much my heart broke several times over. I don't know how long it was, months or maybe even years, I felt like I couldn't breathe because you weren't there, my one shot at being loved and cared for and having a family for the rest of my life was gone. Yeah, I helped with Miroku and Sango's family, but it wasn't the same… Always `Uncle InuYasha', never `Father' or `Papa'. After a while… I don't know, something hardened again, making me turn away. I still wanted you, but I knew you couldn't be with me, so I tried to bury it. When things started to become familiar again, I got scared. Yes, I know, me being scared… who'd've thought? I got scared that I'd see you and reopen all that hurt and learn things I was too fucking scared of to find out for myself. Like why the well closed. Did you do it on purpose or was it an accident? The others always said it was an accident, but I was never sure…

  
“Remember that morning? Before you left, your scent had changed slightly. I knew immediately what it was, and I told you we were going to have a pup together. You cried, I remember, and I freaked out, but you said they were happy tears and just held me until it stopped… I remember thinking how happy we were going to be… and then the well closed. After a while, I thought maybe… maybe those weren't tears of happiness. Maybe you were realizing that your fate was sealed to me now, and wanted to stay away, leave me, or you had second thoughts… I didn't know if you hated me for this, when we really hadn't talked about it or anything… Then, later on, I learned about abortions, when they started to become popular with the prostitutes and the geisha in the cities. That scared me more, to think that you'd sealed yourself from me and then destroyed what we'd made…”

  
He paused here, and was furious with himself when he realized he had tears in his eyes. He swiped at them, and took a breath to calm himself. He couldn't look at her, hadn't since he'd started. He knew he had to finish though.

  
“There was so much I didn't know, didn't know if I even _wanted_ to know… If you'd died in childbirth… or if you'd lost the pup, or if you'd given it away… I was even more scared to find out if you'd kept the pup, because that would open a new series of questions and problems of what to do, like now. You have no idea how fucking confused I am day in and day out because I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing. You seem so fucking calm about these things like mood swings and those weird-ass cravings you get; hell, even those doctor's appointments and that weird class we went to. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing, and I'm even more scared that I won't know what to do after the pup is born, or if I'll be a good father, or if you still might end up hating me for something… I barely handled losing you once, I don't know if I could do it again now that I've found you…”

  
He didn't bother wiping away his tears now, and tried taking another calming breath. “I'm… I'm sorry… Sorry I was too damn scared to find out the truth… for thinking it'd be easier to handle the grief than the pain or the joys of the truth… For thinking it was simply easier to hate myself for driving you away…”

  
Her voice sounded far-away, soft. “Why did you say you couldn't trust me, that day we first met again?”

  
He sighed, holding his head in his hands. “I don't know… After all I've just said, you have to believe me when I say there was so much going through my mind I barely remember what I said that day…”

  
He thought about it for a few minutes. “Maybe… maybe it's more that I couldn't trust… myself… or your reactions to be what I hoped them to be… or that things would be how I prayed they might… That day, I still didn't know what was going to happen when the pup was going to be born… what you had planned to do… maybe you'd meant the comment about single motherhood as just being the carrying vessel for adoptive parents you'd found or something, fuck, I don't know… I regret saying it though, I've come to realize that even after all this time apart, of wondering if you'd left me for some reason, I still trust you more than anyone else in my life. And I hope… you can forgive me somehow… for all this shit, and being too goddamn scared to do anything about it…”

  
She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. The tears falling from her eyes were just as thick and fast as his own, as she sat up and kissed him. It wasn't as passionate as their kiss several days before, yet it fanned up a small flame inside each of them that had been shining dimply for ages. The flame did no more than break the ice that had rested between them for the past twenty-four hours, but it was enough as they lay next to each other on the mound of pillows , too exhausted to change out of their fancy clothes, and held one another as they drifted off to sleep.


	11. Lazy Saturdays

Warm… a lilac scent drifted by his nose, and he buried his face into the warm pillow. Miroku would be coming soon, if he remembered right, he still needed help getting his and Sango's hut together. _Might as well get as much sleep as possible…_ He tiredly reached out for his mate, even in his half-asleep state needing to feel her skin against his. His hand met nothing but futon and air. Panicking, he sat up, and tried to breathe normally as he remembered that Miroku was long dead and he was in his apartment in modern-day Tokyo. He looked down and realized he was still in his tuxedo from the night before. Memory flooded him, and he realized that the lilac scent had been left from her, which had called back long-ago memories of their short time sleeping together. Shrugging out of the suspenders—he'd removed the jacket after she'd fallen asleep—he ran his fingers through his hair, yanking out the elastic tie in the process. Kagome's voice filled the room as she wandered in with a tray of food. “Good morning, sunshine.” She said cheerfully, setting the tray on his nightstand. “I was wondering when I'd have to come wake you, it's nearly noon.”

  
He blinked stupidly, and looked at the clock, as it switched over to read 12:00PM. “So it is. I don't think I've ever slept this late in my life…”

  
She smiled, and sat on the bed. “Well, it was a rather long day. I don't think you so much as twitched when I got up this morning.”

  
He glanced at the tray. “What, room service today?”

  
Instructing him to lean back on the pillows, she set the tray over his legs. “Something like that. Breakfast-slash-lunch in bed. Your favorite Ramen, and coffee to get the cobwebs out.”

  
He sighed after letting the bitter black liquid slide down his throat. “Gods I love you, woman…”

  
Kagome turned pink, and her scent spiked with arousal. He looked at her for a minute, then patted the bed next to him. “C'mere, wench.”

  
She eased herself up next to him, and he surprised her by putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in to lean against his chest. “I do love you.” He told her, nuzzling the top of her head. “Maybe I haven't said it the right way, or much at all, these last few weeks, but I do.”

  
He heard her smile in her voice. She picked up the chopsticks and scooped up a small amount of noodles from the steaming cup. “Open up, love.”

  
He obliged, and she fed him. When he'd swallowed, she pecked his cheek. “I love you too.”

  
For the first time in a very long time, he felt a weight in his chest leave. He felt like he was going to float right off the bed, but somehow remained solidly planted as his mate fed him. “How are your feet?” He asked between scoops of noodles.

  
She shrugged. “Achy. They hurt still this morning, but they were better after a bath. I think I just need to stay off my feet today…”

  
He took the cup with his free hand and drank some of the broth and vegetables down. “I wish you would have mentioned something earlier…” He grumbled, setting the cup back down. “Manners or not, we would have left earlier if I knew you were hurting.”

  
She shrugged, setting the chopsticks on the tray and placing her hand on her ever-swelling stomach. “It didn't matter. Besides, I missed you carrying me…”

  
His arm slid down her shoulders and around her back, his hand coming to rest just under hers. The pup was kicking feebly, and he rubbed her stomach in response. Kagome closed her eyes, tucking her head under his chin. “I'm scared.” She said quietly.

  
He blinked in surprise. “Of what?”

  
“You said last night I was so calm and took this all in stride… I'm not, really. I've been scared since day one. I have no idea what's happening to me, I never know who I'm going to be first thing in the morning, or how I'm going to be through the day or when I go to bed, I want to eat the _strangest_ foods, I routinely feel faint, nauseous, achy, I have to pee _all the time_ , I can't sleep, I can't see my feet anymore, my boobs are freaking huge, and just this morning I got a nosebleed as I got out of the shower! From nothing at all!!” She waved her hand exasperatedly.

  
He held back a laugh. “I take it all of this is normal?”

  
She nodded. “As normal as the moon cycle, or so they tell me. It's just so infuriating that I barely have control over what my body's doing anymore. It's bending to the whims of this little guy… or girl.”

  
She rubbed the swell. He looked down at her. For the first time he was noticing she actually had cleavage now, clearly visible from her position and the low cut dress she was wearing. Swallowing hard, he tried to control the blood rushing southward. “Well, for what it's worth, you put on a good show of handling it all impeccably.”

  
She laughed. “Thank you… Now if only my feet would stop hurting. I wanted to go shopping today.”

  
“Why? You and those weird friends of yours were going to go later this month.”

  
She shook her head. “This is a bit more urgent. I need new bras, I'm outgrowing the few I have again.”

  
He groaned inwardly, trying not to think perverted thoughts. “Can't it wait?”

  
She shrugged. “I suppose. I haven't started leaking yet, I'll really need new ones when that happens…”

  
His eyes flew open. “ _Leaking?!_ ”

  
She reached up and patted his cheek. “It's for me to worry about and you to console my grumblings. It's just an abundance of breast milk, that's all.”

  
He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, he slid out of her grasp, and moved the tray back on to the nightstand, telling her he really needed to shower and put on fresh clothes. She nodded agreeably, and slowly got to her feet, carrying the tray back to the kitchen.

  
An hour later he found her laying on the cough with her feet propped up on a pillow, watching something on the television. She looked up and grinned at his outfit: the old firerat hakama and a beater. “Now that's just not fair.” She complained as he helped her sit up so she could rest against him.

  
“What's that?” He asked, settling in comfortably.

  
She poked at his wiry muscles. “How come you get to look so gorgeous while I look like a fat old toad?”

  
InuYasha blushed. “I'm not gorgeous, and you're not a toad.”

  
She twisted herself around to glare at him. “Oh, so I'm old and fat?”

  
He blinked. “W-What? I didn't say that!”

  
Kagome poked a finger into his chest. “You just said I wasn't a toad, there was nothing about being fat and old and ugly—”

  
He pushed her hand down. “You're not ugly! Or fat! Or old!”

  
“You're just saying that because I called you on it!”

  
He blinked, thoroughly confused at this point. “That's not true, you're not a fat, old, ugly toad!”

  
Her eyes were shiny at this point. “You called me a toad!” She cried.

  
InuYasha opened and closed his mouth a few times, thoroughly in disbelief and having no idea what to do next. Shippou was chuckling as he came out of his and his mate's room. “Just let it go, InuYasha. It's the hormones talking.”

  
A pillow was whipped at his head. “Shut UP Shippou!” Kagome wailed.

  
The kitsune grinned as he tossed the pillow back, and InuYasha gave him a pleading look. “Oh no,” Shippou laughed, “You gave me hell when Itazura was like that. I'm enjoying this too much to help.” The kitsune went to rummage in the fridge, while InuYasha grumbled, sitting back and waiting for it to stop.

  
Her sobs became quieter as she sat there, eventually stopping except for the slight hiccup here and there. Kagome lay back against his chest, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. One crisis down, and the day had just begun. Cautiously, in case she was still upset, he slid a hand onto her shoulder, rubbing it lightly. She leaned into his touch, and he brought his other hand in to help. Her head lolled against his chest, letting out a soft moan as his thumbs worked out the knots in her back. Her scent was changing again, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to attempt to distract himself from reacting. He switched to running his hands up and down her upper arms, until she reached up and laced her fingers through his, and brought them down to rest on her stomach. “My dad was scared too.” She said, her voice distant, thinking of far-off memories.

  
“Keh?”

  
She patted her stomach. “Mama told me… my dad was scared too, when she was pregnant with me. He had all the worries you have, wondering if he'd be a good father, if things would turn out alright… So you aren't the first one to be worried.”

  
InuYasha absently rubbed his thumb across hers. She'd never talked about her father before. “What happened?” He asked.

  
She looked up, confused. “What happened to your father?” He smelled her tears again, and inwardly cursed himself.

  
She shook her head. “You… you probably remember that plane crash… the one fifteen years ago? Mama… Mama was pregnant with Souta, and Papa… Papa was on his way to Osaka for business… The plane crashed, and he… he didn't make it… They only identified him from his briefcase, and his wedding ring… I don't even remember much of him, I was only three when he died… Souta never knew him, only some pictures Mama has. He would have liked you, I think… what I remember was that he was always so nice to everyone, accepted them for who they were… he had a great, deep laugh too, Mama always made him laugh…”

  
Her voice wavered. “I just… Lately I've wished he was still here… to see the pup, to know how his children grew, to watch his grandchild grow… I know how hard it was for Mama, when Souta was born and all she had was me and Grandpa. Raising two children under the age of five, with a father-in-law who had to run the family shrine… I think that's why she was so accepting of me in a similar situation… she knew what it was like to carry a child without a father… How it felt to lose a husband…”

  
His arms wrapped around her fully, fitting snugly under her breasts as he held her as tightly as he dared, pressing his lips against the top of her head and breathing in her scent. “I'm here now… I'm here and nothing can keep me from you again…” S

  
he nodded, and leaned back into his embrace. The salty scent of her tears made his heart wrench; he shifted her slightly, and tentatively licked at the tracks they'd left down her cheeks. She sucked in a breath, and held very still, terrified if she moved, he'd stop. He sensed her mixed desire, and touched his nose to hers, resting their foreheads together. “Don't cry anymore.” He said softly. “You know I hate it.”

  
Instead of replying, she asked, “What happened to your mother?”

  
His eyes clouded, and he looked down. “There was an earthquake… We lived in a series of caves then, the humans couldn't get at us because we knew the labyrinth so well…”

  
He shuddered, and she instinctively rubbed his ear; human as it was, he leaned into her soothing touch. “I couldn't sleep that night, the ground felt too hot to me. She didn't mind it, or notice it; it was early spring and still cold at night, so it might have helped her keep warm, aside from all the layers she wore… When the ground started to shake, I got scared… It took a minute to wake her, and her kimono layers kept getting in the way. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if she hadn't told me to run outside, that she'd catch up as soon as she got all her kimono under control… The rocks were grinding together in the ground, in the walls, and it was all so loud and unnerving, I got out as fast as I could… There was a crash right after I got out, and I hid, thinking it might be a cart from the village, and the men who tormented my mother and I would be coming, that it was a trick to lure us out… The men never came, and neither did my mother… She died in the cave-in… There were other entrances, and when I got to her, she'd died from blood loss when her lower half was crushed.”

  
Kagome ran her fingers through his silky dark hair, and brought his head against her shoulder in comfort. “InuYasha…?” She asked softly.

  
“Hmm?” He shifted her so he could hold her more comfortably.

  
“If it's a girl… can we name her after your mother?”

  
She looked up, and was pleased to see a small smile on his face. “Only if it's a boy, we name him after your father.” He replied, and was rewarded with a smile and more tears.

  
“Izayoi and Sachi… Mama will be pleased. I'm not sure about Sesshou-maru though.”

  
Her mate snorted. “Sesshou-maru can shove it. Those are our choices, not his.” Kagome nodded in agreement.

  
The rest of the afternoon was a typical lazy Saturday. After several more crying jags at everything from the movie they were watching, to her swollen ankles, to how kind he was being to her during her cries, InuYasha simply decided that today was a crying day, and also decided he much preferred the angry-happy-sad-happy-angry days. He soothed her as best he could, and also helped her go through another pint of ice cream. He managed to keep his hormones under control somehow, especially when she licked her spoon clean after the ice cream was gone, and when she'd dabbed some of the melted remains on his nose, giggling at his expression before licking it off. He did allow himself one blush-worthy comment, however, when the spoons were in the sink and the carton in the trash. Kagome was sprawled on the couch in his absence. “Ugh… I feel so fat… How am I going to get rid of this weight after the pup is born?”

  
Her voiced hinted on the verge of wailing. He knelt next to her, sliding his arms under her back to lift her, and said in a low, husky voice, “I can think of one very entertaining exercise that can help with that…” She turned bright red, but the serious spike in her scent made him smirk, aside from his now-swelling erection.

  
Shippou and Itazura joined them, cuddling with one another on the loveseat as InuYasha flipped through the channels, forgetting how drab Saturdays were for television; usually he was working on the weekends, and had often wondered why he even owned a television if he never made time to watch it. Now he was glad he did have it, thinking so as his mate tucked her head under his chin comfortably, even if there wasn't anything decent to watch. Later, when Kagome complained of being hungry again, he and Shippou volunteered for dinner-duty. “Something with pickled radishes.” His mate told him with a glare, to which he only smirked. The pup she carried truly was his.

  
Shippou yanked him into the kitchen. “Hey, I know it's not my place or anything, but would you please bed her tonight or something?” The kitsune asked, looking uncomfortable. “I know she's practically my mother, but you keeping her in a near-constant state of arousal… it's distracting.”

  
InuYasha brought his fist down, more gently than usual, on top of Shippou's head. “Insolent pup.” He remarked. “It's hard for me too, but I don't want to do anything she doesn't, especially this far along.”

  
Shippou just looked at him for a moment, before digging through the fridge for something to make. “I seriously doubt she doesn't want to do anything…” He muttered, knowing full well the hanyou would hear him. Instead of hitting him, like usual, InuYasha just grumbled, finding something to cook in.

  
After a meal of domburi, with a large dish of pickled radishes for InuYasha and Kagome to share, Itazura offered to do the dishes. Kagome tried to help, but she was swiftly sent back in the other direction. Rubbing her back lightly, she waddled her way back to the couch. Her mate was there already, patting the seat next to him. He immediately took her legs into his lap, and began working the knots out of her calves. Suppressing a loud moan of pleasure, she gratefully lay back. This felt even better than the hot water had. She gasped when he moved to her feet, and jerked them out of his grasp. “What?” He asked.

  
She glared at him over her stomach. “You know what, don't play innocent!”

  
He tilted his head to the side in confusion. “No, really. What?”

  
Narrowing her eyes further, she stuck out her tongue. “You _know_ my feet are ticklish!”

  
“I'll be careful. And it'll make you feel better. Now stop wiggling, and come _here_ —”

  
He grabbed her ankles and set them firmly in his lap. Gently, he massaged her feet, ignoring the stifled giggles that escaped his mate's lips when he hit a particularly ticklish spot. Her toes kept clenching at his hands, and wriggling. With his short human nails, he lightly tickled the arch of her foot; she shrieked in laughter and kicked her leg up and out of his reach. He barely retracted his head in time to miss being kicked. “You did that on purpose!” She yelped.

  
He grinned. “Maybe.”

  
She wasn't letting him touch her feet now, and burrowed them underneath his seat. He would have fought back, but her toes wriggling under some rather sensitive areas made it difficult for him to concentrate on multiple things at once.

  
Sometime later, he noticed she was dozing. Despite their late bedtime, she'd been up longer than any of them. Smiling slightly, he got up and took her into his arms. “Come on, wench… let's get you in a proper bed…”

  
Kagome grumbled, blinking sleepily. “I'm fine… Just tired…”

  
Ignoring her protests as usual, he closed the door behind him. She winced when he sat her on the bed. “InuYasha… rub my back, please? I swear, it just gets worse every day…”

  
He sat cross-legged behind her. “Like this?” He asked, being as gentle as he could against the small of her back.

  
She sighed with content, leaning back into his touch. Her scent was spiking again. “I can help you with that too…”

  
He blinked, not sure if he'd actually said what he thought he'd said. She gasped. Turning slightly to look at him, he was surprised to see, and smell, uncertainty and a bit of fear. “What's wrong?” InuYasha asked, feeling slightly panicked.

  
“A-Are you… are you sure?” She asked, voice wavering. “I mean… most guys get freaked out when they think of having sex with a pregnant woman… And I know it's still safe, but it still worries me…”

  
His eyes widened. “Kagome…” He turned red, trying to think of what to say. “I… er… I _want_ to… but, er…”

  
She regarded him. “It scares you too?” She asked quietly.

  
He nodded, shamefaced; his youkai was snarling inside, not understanding why he wouldn't, _couldn't_ take his mate. “I don't want to hurt the pup…”

  
She took his hand. He was relieved to see she was blushing too; he wasn't the only nervous one. “We can… start off slow. We don't have to… mate tonight, if we don't feel we can.”

  
They stared at each other, cautious. “Like… like before we mated…?” He asked softly.

  
“Like getting reacquainted.” She replied, her voice just as quiet.

  
Slowly, as if scared she'd make him stop, he met her lips with his. He thought to be gentle, but didn't quite realize exactly how strongly her arousal was affecting her. She pressed herself against him roughly, wanting his touch more than anything else at this moment. Aroused, and challenged, further by this dominance, he wanted nothing more than to shred her clothes and take her, as was his right, but his more human side knew he had to be gentle, and both of his bloodlines, in their own ways, worried for the safety of the pup.

  
InuYasha tried to lay her on her back, but she resisted. “I know how hard this must have been for you…” She whispered breathlessly, breaking their kiss.

  
Her hands were fumbling with the ties of his hakama. Kneeling on the floor, she managed to get the offending material off, and glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow as she noticed he still went without underwear. He blushed again, mumbling something about old habits, and she smiled slightly before taking him into her mouth. He sucked in a breath, hands clenching into the bedspread; she'd only done this once before, and that encounter was vivid in his mind as this one now. He choked out a broken version of her name as her tongue swirled around the tip. Pausing, she looked up to him, her mouth still covering the top of his length. He whimpered when she stopped, and looked pleadingly at her. He barely caught her brief smile before a howl lodged itself in his throat, sounding mangled as she began sucking forcefully on him, while her other hand reached up to massage his sack. “Ka-Kago—”

  
Hot, white light burst in his mind, and he bit down hard on his arm to stop himself from howling; Kagome gagged slightly when he thrust himself into her mouth further than she could handle, but swallowed him eagerly, ignoring the saltiness of his seed. Releasing him, she caught her breath and watched in amusement as he collapsed back on the bed, breathing hard. “Feel better?” She asked softly, grunting slightly with the effort to get back on her feet. He nodded, too dazed to speak. Kagome smiled, and managed to get back onto the bed.

  
He turned his head to look at her. “Don't think this is over yet.” He warned, and she squeaked when he pounced on her.

  
She moaned as his lips met hers, and he greedily drank in her scent, which returned with spicy vengeance. He broke the kiss only to remove her dress, and returned, wrapping his arms around her to get rid of the damned bra-thing she insisted on wearing. He'd managed to get it off once or twice without resorting to claws, but it seems that five hundred years had dimmed his memory on these sorts of things. He growled, breaking their kiss again to see what he was doing. Kagome laughed, realizing the problem, and reached back to help him; this one had three hooks instead of the usual two, which was probably the main reason he was having trouble. Freed, he pushed her back to the mound of pillows, and could hardly contain himself: he latched himself to one of her nipples, and suckled. She cried out, and he felt confused when she pushed him away. He looked at her, and realized she was hurting. “What…?”

  
She covered her arms over her chest, holding herself tightly. “They're… they're sore… I thought this might help, but I guess not…”

  
He took her arms and gently removed them. “I'm sorry.” He told her honestly. “But don't hide yourself from me, please…”

  
InuYasha nuzzled the breast he'd hurt, and licked the side tentatively. She sighed, and he continued the treatment, remembering to pay attention to its twin as well. Here, he noticed, she smelled more like a nursing bitch than a pupped one, but he supposed it was only because she was making the milk she'd feed the pup after the birth next month. He breathed in the soothing smell for a moment, letting it calm him, before heading south. He paused briefly to nuzzle her swollen stomach, feeling the pup kick against his nose. “Keh, pup's already defending his mother…” He said, rubbing the tingling appendage.

  
Kagome looked at him curiously. “Kicked me.” InuYasha said simply, before distracting her with a lick to her thigh.

  
He disappeared behind her swollen stomach, but she could still feel everything he was doing. He underwear was gone within seconds, and his mouth eagerly lapped at her core, sending her into fits of gasps and moans. He was becoming dizzy at her scent's strength, but loved every minute of it, and made sure she did too. He ran his nails down her thighs, feeling the goosebumps that followed, and thrust his tongue inside her wet channel. She sucked in a breath, and felt something start to coil up tightly. He noticed as her scent changed, driving him to continue his sweet torture at a more hurried pace. The coil snapped as she felt a fang graze her nub, and she fought the urge to scream; she moaned out his name as her hips bucked, and he eagerly drank in her juices, cleaning her as the last of the pleasure waves coursed through her body. He slid up next to her, enjoying her flushed appearance. Her eyes were closed and she was panting.

  
She turned her head, and opened her eyes to a warm amber gaze staring back at her. She'd forgotten how emotional she could be in a post-orgasmic state, and started to cry as she reached up to trace his fuzzy ears, and bury her hands in his silky, snowy hair. He let her hold him and cry out her happiness, as he worked the blankets out from beneath them, and covered them both. When he looked at her again, she kissed him thoroughly, her hands never leaving his ears. Her tongue forced its way into his mouth, and traced the outline of his fangs, and she moaned in happiness. When she came up for air, he asked softly, “What was that for?”

  
She buried her head against his shoulder. “I missed you…”

  
About to reply that he'd been here for weeks now, he suddenly caught what she'd meant, and chuckled instead. She fell asleep holding his ears.


	12. Stormy Sundays

He was gone when she woke, blinking sleep from her eyes and huddling under the warmth of the blankets. Where he'd lain the night before was still warm, and smelled faintly of him; she moved to that spot and breathed in his faint woodsy smell, feeling enveloped in her mate. She dozed, smiling slightly, when the bathroom door opened, and he came out. InuYasha chortled quietly, and sat where she once had been. “C'mon, wench, that spot's not good for your back.” He told her softly.

  
“Mmm… smells like you…” Kagome mumbled in reply, displeased at the attempt to move her.

  
“ _I_ smell like me.” He retorted, but left her to doze where she was happy.

  
He'd just opened the closet to see what to wear when the phone rang. “Put some clothes on, shameless fleabag!” Shippou yelped, covering his eyes when the hanyou grabbed the extension on the table outside his room.

  
“I've got a towel on, moron.” InuYasha snapped before answering.

  
She stretched slightly, hearing her mate talking animatedly with someone, and grumbled at getting up; she had no choice, however, unless she wanted to do laundry and change the sheets later. InuYasha was getting dressed when she returned. “Your mom wants us over there for dinner tonight.” He told her as he pulled a t-shirt over his head.

  
Kagome smiled when she saw what it said: `3687 Days Since I Last Gave a Shit'. “That's fine, but you're not wearing that shirt, alright?” She commented, looking for a towel to cover herself with so she could go to her clothes.

  
He pouted at her. “I like this shirt.”

  
She gave him a look. “You're forgetting it's my mother. Yes, you've sworn in front of her and Grandpa, but swearing near someone and blatantly wearing it on your shirt are two different things. It's not like you have to wear your tuxedo, just not that. Is there a robe I can wear or something?”

  
She went to check on the back of the bathroom door when he settled the firerat haori on her shoulders. She glanced at him, and smiled as she shrugged her arms into the huge sleeves. “Still protecting me?”

  
He was tying it shut with the hakama's belt. “Always will.”

  
She smiled, and stroked his cheek, her hand barely sticking out from the large sleeves. He turned his head slightly, nipping at her fingers playfully. She raised an eyebrow. “Come on now, if you get started with that, we'll never get anything done today.”

  
He pouted at her. “Keh, what the fuck is more important?”

  
Stepping lightly out of his reach, she told him, “We're going shopping,” and went to get her clothes.

* * *

  
He'd seen way too many bras. And while he was easily able to imagine her wearing them, he much preferred the image of her without one. Saying as much, he received a dark look that sent a chill down his spine, and wisely said nothing else. He'd since wandered into the non-maternity section, and was idly wondering if he could get her to wear some of these lacy numbers after the pup arrived. “No, InuYasha.” She told him exasperatedly when he held up a practically see-through lace demi-bra and thong set.

  
He pouted again. “Why not?”

  
She just gave him a look. He held up what was clearly a leather bustier. “Ok, what about this?”

  
Kagome sighed. “ _No_.”

  
The next set he held up, she laughed. “InuYasha, I have enough old school uniforms, we don't need to buy one that makes me look like a slut.”

  
He held up a pink babydoll. She considered it. “Maybe.”

  
He grinned. “I'll wear you down on the other ones.” He said, going to put them back.

  
“Like hell you will.” She retorted, going to the dressing room with her selections.

  
InuYasha was sorely disappointed that she wouldn't model them for him, though not for lack of trying, and they left twenty minutes later with a bag filled with leak-proof, nursing bras. Outside it was more humid than necessary, and Kagome almost immediately felt the effects of the heat. He kept a protective arm around the small of her back, remembering the last time. As it was Sunday, and his driver had the day off, they'd walked to a nearby lingerie shop; it was still a good block or so from his apartment building, but if she got too tired he could always carry her. She leaned against him, already perspiring and looking weary. He worried at her expression, but didn't quicken their pace; he wanted to get back quickly, but without another repeat of last month's outdoors adventure.

  
Kagome, as heated as she was, still found the ability to be wryly amused at the looks they were getting. To think that just a few months ago, when asked where the father of her child was, she'd received looks of pity, disturbance, or even anger when she'd said there was no father. Now, she saw the approving, smiling, and blissfully sighing people around her, taking in the fact that young love was still around in this age. She shook her head, not quite sure how many more blows her faith in humanity could take. “Need me to carry you?” Her mate asked worriedly, mistaking her movement.

  
She smiled at him reassuringly. “No, I can make it.”

  
Her hand drifted around his back, and wrapped itself around his hand; had he not been carrying the bag, she would have laced her fingers through his. He smiled, and she fingered the ring he wore. “You know, I nearly told you that you needed a hat before we left this morning.” She commented.

  
“Keh. I like my way better.” He retorted.

  
“I'll bet you do. I did catch myself, you know.”

  
InuYasha squeezed her side in reassurance. “I've never worn a hat since, you know? Painful in both memories and itchiness.”

  
She nuzzled his side. “I'm sorry…”

  
He frowned. “Stop apologizing, it's nothing.”

  
She opened her mouth to argue, but the look on his face told her she wouldn't win, no matter how hard she tried. He added another tally mark to the running scoreboard in his head, giving him a total of eight wins to her… well, he'd stopped counting sometime around the whole issue with that Band of Seven, so he wasn't even going to bother trying to think of a number remotely close to how many arguments she'd won.

  
Kagome sighed with happiness when they entered the lobby of the apartment building, and sighed with more happiness when they entered the elevator. “I love modern conveniences…” She commented.

  
He shrugged, not wanting to think about how she could have reacted to summer's heat five hundred years ago in this condition. They entered their apartment to see suitcases in the hallway. “Oi, leaving already, runt?” InuYasha called.

  
“In the morning; I thought it to be best to inconvenience you in every way possible until then.” The kitsune retorted, sticking his head around the corner.

  
“It's working.” The hanyou replied, knocking his fist against Shippou's head as he passed him.

  
Kagome gave him a look. “I still have to lecture you about being nice?”

  
InuYasha gave her a look back. “He's a grown youkai, he can handle it.”

  
Her look darkened, and he backed down, not wanting to upset her more than she already was from the heat. “I'm going to lie down for a bit… Shippou, I'd love for you and Itazura to come to Mama's with us later; she'd be overjoyed to finally meet you, even if you're not two feet tall anymore.”

  
Shippou nodded agreeably, and InuYasha just prayed that the old man had finally gotten over his sutra-throwing impulses; then again, he wouldn't mind watching someone else get the treatment for once.

* * *

  
“DEMONS!”

  
Both Shippou and Itazura had not been warned about Grandpa, as Kagome had forgotten and InuYasha just decided to keep his mouth shut for once. The three demon-blooded beings in their party had removed their rings once safely atop the shrine stairs, and apparently the twin kitsune tails twitching fluffily behind them had alerted Grandpa of their non-human presence. InuYasha had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at the looks of shock (Shippou) and outrage (Itazura) from being pelted with sutras. Luckily, with the cooler head prevailing in Shippou, he was able to keep his usually mischievous-yet-kind mate from attacking the old man out of spite. “Never in my five hundred and four years have I ever—!”

  
The red-headed vixen was livid, but her mate dragged her away before she made too much more of a scene. Kagome, however, was reading her grandfather the riot act. “Grandpa! You'd think you'd be _used_ to me bringing home strange demons by now! Stop attacking everything that looks suspicious!”

  
The old man looked fearful by his granddaughter. “But, Kagome—”

  
“Don't `but Kagome' me, Grandpa, you know better by now. Go apologize, and I'd better not see you do it again!”

  
As he sheepishly went to apologize, Mrs. Higurashi's laughter brought their attention to her. “Oh, sweetheart, I hope for their sake your children aren't trouble-makers.”

  
Kagome greeted her mother happily, with a bit of guilt for going off on her grandfather, and InuYasha smiled nervously before being enveloped in a mom-sized hug, including a good ear-tweaking. “It's so good to see you, InuYasha.” Mama told him, smiling warmly. “For everyone, I'm glad you and Kagome have found each other again… She was such a wreck after the well closed. And… let me guess, this is Shippou-chan that my daughter talked about?”

  
He looked guiltily at the ground as Mama went to introduce herself and greet the kitsune mates properly. Kagome touched his hand, and he looked at her. She smiled soothingly, giving him a look that clearly stated that it didn't matter anymore. He knew it did, at least to him, and he'd do his damndest to make it up to her somehow. Clouds had rolled in as the afternoon wore on, and thunder growled in the air; InuYasha's ears twitched at the noise. “Come on, let's get inside before it starts to pour.”

  
Souta was ecstatic to see InuYasha again; however, being nearly fifteen years old now, it was a cooler, more sophisticated excitement. As sophisticated as a fourteen-year-old boy could be, anyway. It took him a bit to process Shippou and Itazura, but readily accepted them as much as he had InuYasha. Aside from a constant stream of questions coming from her brother, and a smaller, broken stream from her mother, the dinner, in Kagome's opinion, went rather well; it was rather nice to be back home for an evening, listening to the storm make itself known outside, as her family continued their usual chatter. After she'd apologized, Grandpa looked much less subdued than before, and between Souta pestering InuYasha with questions about Mitsubishi, proceeded to go on about the history of the shrine for Shippou and Itazura's benefit. They didn't bother to tell the old man that they had known the founder of the shrine, and while not containing first-hand knowledge of its history, at least had old correspondence from the shrine's caretakers over the years. After dinner, Souta, same as ever, wanted to beat InuYasha, and Shippou of course, in his newest video game; they disappeared into the living room, while Grandpa wandered off to finish closing the shrine for the night, and Kagome and Itazura helped Mama with clean up.

  
“Things are going well, I take it?” Mama asked Kagome while she washed; Kagome was drying, and Itazura had put-away.

  
The raven-haired woman smiled. “It's getting better than before.”

  
Itazura smiled knowingly, and Mama caught it. She let that particular subject drop; for her own sake, she had made it a policy of not knowing her children's sex lives unless it was brought up by them. “How about marriage, then? Have either of you discussed it?”

  
Kagome shook her head. “No, we haven't. By his terms, we already are married, but by human terms…” She drifted off.

  
“Actually, the demon mating rites are just as legal these days as human ones. There's a bit of paper to sign and everything, there just isn't any pomp and festivities about it.” Itazura interjected.

  
Kagome looked at her with fascination. “Are they really?”

  
The red-headed kitsune nodded. “You just have to sign the license for the humans' legal files, and then go at it like… er… go about the demon ceremony. No fuss, and only as much effort as you want to put into it. I'm sure Sesshou-maru could wrangle something up for you guys to sign.”

  
Kagome thought about it, drying a bowl her mother handed her. She was slightly disappointed at not having her own wedding, but she knew her mate would just be uncomfortable with the ceremony of it anyway. Distracted by her thoughts, she jumped at the next booming crack of thunder, and dropped the bowl on the floor with a crash. InuYasha was in the kitchen in an instant. “Kagome are you alri—”

  
He stopped mid-sentence and growled as the lights flickered and died. Souta and Shippou's yells of fury were heard from the next room. “I was just about to win!!”

  
“Oh, you were not, I was toying with you!”

  
Mama was lighting a candle. “Don't move dear, we don't want you to cut yourself on the shards.” She said.

  
Kagome squeaked in surprise as she as suddenly lifted up, and set down away from the mess she'd made; her mate moved past her and started picking up the larger pieces, throwing them into the trash can. Mama got a broom and the dustpan. “Sorry, Mama…” Kagome apologized as she helped InuYasha finish cleaning.

  
“It's not a problem, dear, we have plenty more.”

  
After the dishes were through, Mama braved the storm to rescue Grandpa out in the shrine. InuYasha had disappeared somewhere after helping with cleanup, and the others wondered how they'd ever catch the taxis back downtown in this downpour. Another hour passed, with Shippou teaching Souta some foreign card game that involved a lot of swearing, until finally the storm began to grumble its way out of the city. Kagome took a flashlight and went to find her mate. She found him dozing on her old bed, and smiled. By the content look on his face, it still smelled like her after the few weeks she'd vacated it. “Enjoying yourself?” She asked, careful not to shine the light on his face.

  
“Always did here… Remember that time I caught those pigeons for you?” He asked, sitting up.

  
She blinked, and smiled at the memory. “And the carp from my neighbor's pond… And you wanted me to cook them for you! I still can't believe you; you slept for like two hours, after being mauled around like that, before you were bouncing all over Tokyo.”

  
He gave her a lop-sided grin. “'Course. Hanyou stamina and all.”

  
She shivered at the other possibilities his stamina gave them, and his grin widened. “Besides… it's all you in here. Well, you and a little of the pup now, but it's still… It's… calming.” He got up and nuzzled the top of her head, breathing in her fresh scent. “Let's go home.”

  
Unfortunately, the blackout was city-wide, which meant that the elevators were down. Kagome braced herself to take as many stairs as possible to get to her mate's top-floor apartment when she was suddenly swept off her achy feet and taken back outside. “InuYasha, what—”

  
The rest of her question was lost to a scream as she felt the very familiar sensation of leaving her stomach on the ground. “It's faster, and easier this way.” He grunted, bounding up to a streetlamp and using it as a springboard to a building's roof across the street. “Also, it's dark for once, in this blasted bright city, so it's not like we'll be seen.”

  
She hit his chest feebly, clutching his shirt with white-knuckled fingers. “Warn me next time!”

  
He kissed her forehead. “Warning.”

  
He took off again, to the top of a shed, and to the next-highest roof. She wondered how many buildings they'd have to scale before getting to level with his roof, but quickly forgot as she felt him pick up speed and leap out and up across the street. She hid her face, terrified, but let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when they touched down on the other side. “Keh, scared?”

  
She glared up at him. “I'm out of practice, and it's different being in front, and with someone else's life to take care of!”

  
While he could see her facial expression just fine, his own were hard to distinguish. “I'm not going to let you fall, I happen to be a professional at this. And even if I did miss-step, you should know better than to think I'd just fall haphazardly and endanger you and the pup.”

  
She didn't get the chance to reply, only sucked in a breath when he bounded up another rooftop. Her mothering instincts were kicked into high gear, but she did have to admit to herself that she did miss this, the swooping sensation each time his powerful legs kicked off the ground and they flew like birds to their next landing spot. She did miss being on his back as he did this, however, being able to feel his muscles bunching, stretching, and relaxing underneath her, his silky hair all around her. Three buildings, and one heart-stopping second when she thought they'd miss later, they met the two kitsune at the door on the roof. Shippou grinned at Kagome's pale face. “Scary? You should have come up with us, just an easy flight, straight up.”

  
She glared. “Either way, I was fully prepared to take the stairs—”

  
Her mate's finger pressing to her lips silenced her. “No, and you had more fun with me anyway. Don't lie, I can smell the adrenaline.”

  
He carried his pouting mate through the rooftop door, and downstairs to his apartment. He could tell the lack of air conditioning already, though it would take her a few more hours to begin to notice the difference; especially once the sun rose in the morning. He watched her change for bed, raising an eyebrow at the light nightgown she wore. She raised one of her own in reply. “I'm tired, and I want to talk to you about something.” She told him, climbing under the blankets with him.

  
He waited while she found the right words. “I don't know if you overheard or not… Itazura told me about how demon mating rituals are just as legal as human ones.”

  
He nodded, curious as to why she would bring this up. “Yeah, happened a while ago. Why?”

  
He could smell her blush. “Well… would you… ah… would you want to get one? Make it official, I mean? We don't have to do the human ceremony, I know how uncomfortable you'd be about it… I mean, Mama would be disappointed, and Grandpa would throw a fit, but if it's legal the way we are, I don't see why…”

  
She started a bit when he cupped her cheek. “It's just a piece of paper, Kagome. But, if you want it, we can do it.” He told her, kissing her lightly.

  
She smiled against his lips; even so, he could smell a slight sadness to her. She snuggled down next to him. “Besides, it's not like I can fit into a wedding kimono now anyway…” His ears pricked at this. _So… she_ **_does_** _want a real wedding… I think…_


	13. August Worries

Shippou kissed Kagome's cheek before they left that morning. “Stay safe, Kaa-san.” He told her, winking.

  
Kagome smiled brightly, touched at his affectionate term. “Have a safe flight home; give your daughters our love.”

  
Itazura grinned. “We will, and we'll bring them with us next time, after the pup is born. And you—” She rounded on InuYasha and poked a finger into his chest. “You had better call us the _minute_ she goes into labor. Your ears are mine if you don't, buster!”

  
The hanyou cocked an eyebrow, smirking. “You'd have to catch me first.”

  
Kagome stepped between them to stop the fight before it began. “I'll make sure he does, don't worry. Now you'd better get going, you'll miss your flight!”

  
InuYasha helped the two kitsune with their luggage, as he was leaving for work at the same time. Kagome moved to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head and met her lips with his. “You know, with them going, we can be a lot louder now…” He murmured seductively.

  
She giggled, and swatted his arm. “That can wait, Sesshou-maru put you up with those other clients, remember? You'd better get going if you'll be home for dinner.”

  
He whimpered slightly, lowering his ears and pouting. She giggled again, and pecked him on the lips. “Later; don't give me the puppy face. Get going, or you'll be a huge grouch when you get home.”

  
Huffing slightly as he balanced the suitcases he held, he retorted, “I'll just have to be grouchy and horny all day then. You're getting it when I get home, wench.”

  
She smiled and gently pushed him to the door. “I'll look forward to it then, now scoot!”

  
She'd just closed the door before she opened it again, and called after him, “And don't forget to tell Sesshou-maru our choices!”

  
His vague “Keh” drifted back to her, and she made a mental note to call Rin later, as she was sure InuYasha would sooner go tell his brother to off himself as a result of his extra workload that day. She leaned against the closed door with a sign, wishing the electricity would turn back on. It was growing uncomfortably warm without the air conditioning. _Nothing I can do but wait, I suppose…_ She thought, thinking of running a cool bath and relaxing with a book for the morning. Or maybe just most of the day, whichever idea appealed the most. Sighing with happiness at the thought, she went to start the bath, and find the most raunchy romance novel she owned.

* * *

  
She was asleep when he came home. He was surprised that the windows were open, but then again, even the slight breezes that drifted through were probably better than sitting in a slowly-warming hotbox. She'd even found the old fans in the storage room; they were rattling noisily, much to his throbbing head's annoyance, but it was to be expected from old appliances dating back to the 70s or so. He was actually surprised they worked at all, but nothing surprised him more than his mate lying naked on his bed, no covers at all, with damp cloths on her forehead, stomach and legs; an ice-filled glass of water sat sweating on the bedside table. His ears lowered at the slightly pained look on her face, and thought how miserable she must be feeling. He guiltily looked at the clock, and shed his clothes, too worn out from the battle of wills of the day to want more than to kiss her lightly before laying near her, breathing in her calming scent. He slipped into sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but when he awoke to her getting out of bed, it felt like only a few seconds had passed. “Kagome…?” He mumbled, opening an eye.

  
She looked back at him tiredly. “Sorry… Go back to sleep, I need another bath…” Too tired to be more than a little confused by her words, he fell back asleep almost instantly.

  
When the sun came up, he was, unfortunately, awake almost immediately from habit. His body was screaming for more sleep, and the added heat coming in from the windows wasn't helping him feel any better. He prayed to any gods listening that he could get home, get some sleep, get cool, and possibly some ass that night. He looked over at his mate, who had circles under her eyes, though she appeared to be sleeping; it didn't seem that she'd gotten much more sleep than he had, though for different reasons. The cloths she had on were dry, and she had a pained look on her face, so he forced himself out of bed to at least dampen them again for her; one of them should be rested, anyway. She sighed when he placed the cold cloths in their original spots, and blinked up at him blearily. “Inu…Yasha…?”

  
He smiled, and kissed her cheek. “Go back to sleep, mate. You need it.” She nodded tiredly, and relaxed against her mountain of pillows.

  
He slept through his lunch break. Usually he worked through it, having no need to eat as often as his human underlings, but today he was too tired to care. Plus, the office was on another side of the city, where they'd already restored power, and the blessedly cool temperatures of his office, in addition to the plush leather couch Rin had insisted he have for some gods-be-damned reason, were too inviting for him to relax for the hour usually devoted to working. His shrill phone woke him at the end of the hour, and he grudgingly went back to work.

  
The only change from the night before was that the electricity had finally been restored. It was apparent that it had only happened recently, though, as the apartment was still sweltering hot. Kagome had fallen asleep in the bath, which wasn't as dangerous as it sounded because the water barely reached her breasts. Tired as he was, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, his water nymph dozing in her element; at least, that's how he privately had always thought of her, with her love of baths and hot springs. He shed his shirt, reaching into the water to drain the bathtub and gently lifting her into his arms. She stirred, and looked at him bewilderedly. “Did I… I fell asleep?”

  
He merely nodded, and gently stood her on her feet, lightly patting her dry with a towel. She shrugged off the uncomfortably warm material. “What time is it?”

  
He didn't meet her eyes. “After midnight…”

  
She sighed. “Did you eat at least?”

  
He glanced at her. “Yeah. It was good, thank you. Come on, at least if I'm sleeping I can dream about killing Sesshou-maru…” He kissed her forehead and led her to the bedroom.

* * *

  
With the exception of the blackout, most of August was the same as it had started out. InuYasha rarely made it home in time for dinner these days, swamped with the extra workload Sesshou-maru had assigned to him, and Kagome spent most of her days cleaning and re-cleaning the apartment. Some days she went to her mother's house to have her sooth her fears about the upcoming labor, and others she went to her Lamaze classes, also with her mother. He felt guilty, but unless he shoved off his work to an underling, he wasn't able to take the time off needed to go with her; had he not had an aversion to shirking, or an aversion to showing weakness in his brother's presence, he probably would have shoved most of the paperwork to his assistants. The days he did make it home for dinner, she was always surprised, and also did her best to be cheerful for him, offering her own tension-relieving massages for him. During one of these shoulder rubs, which often led to ear-rubs as well, and then on to other kinds of rubbing, he thought of the irony that once upon a time he could go days with little sleep and food, battling countless demons along the way, but shove a mountain range of paperwork and three cities' worth of morons babbling nonsense in his ears all damned day and he was done for. He also thought guiltily of his mate, left at home with nothing more to do than cook for him and grow more and more nervous about her due date and her ever-growing belly. She never said as much, as they only really saw each other in the mornings these days, but he could smell her anxiety and worry.

  
Kagome, on the other hand, was busy making lists. Lists of things she had, things she needed, things she might need, and things she probably might need but would never get around to using. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi had all called her and asked when she wanted to go on their outing, and what she wanted them to get for her. Those phone calls, fifteen in all, and several three-way calls, had been more stressful than anything else had been so far, and finally had just promised to make several lists and give them to them when they went. It was nearing the end of August at this point, and she hadn't finished the lists; to complete her happiness, in addition to scribbling countless items and calling her mother to ask about different baby-items that she was probably forgetting, she'd dropped a plate that morning, tripped over a shoe she'd left out in the hall, bumped into a doorway or a wall at least four times, stubbed three toes on the coffee table, and almost had slipped and fallen in the shower. She thought grimly of this stage of clumsiness, and hoped it meant the baby was coming sooner than she thought, and she could be relieved of this for a few years. She also hoped that her next pregnancy went better than this one had, but after talking about it with her mother, she decided to just make things better for herself by being pregnant in the fall and winter.

  
Noting the clock on the wall, she surprised herself by seeing that it was already after eleven, and she hadn't fallen asleep yet. Patting herself on the back, she decided to get going while the going was good, and put away her lists, telling herself that anything else not on them, her friends would most likely just get for her anyway. She slipped into InuYasha's old haori, her favorite nightgown these days, and curled up under the covers, hoping that she could get enough sleep to keep up with her friends in the morning. She was dozing when he came home, late as per usual these days, and smiled when he slid under the covers next to her. “I missed you…” She sighed, as he slid an arm under her neck.

  
“I'm sorry… I'm trying, I really am.” He murmured, kissing her shoulder.

  
“I know, koibito… Oh, and don't forget… about me and the girls going out tomorrow… and there will be baby stuff everywhere…” She yawned, snuggling against him.

  
“You'll have to remind me… because I'll probably forget by morning…” She merely nodded, content to fall sleep in her mate's arms.

* * *

  
“Oh, this is _adorable_!!” Eri squealed, holding up an infant girl's dress.

  
Kagome hid a grin. “We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, Eri, you can't buy stuff like that!”

  
Her friend pouted. “Oh, come on, it's too adorable to pass up!”

  
Rolling her eyes, Kagome took the dress. “Ok, ok… how does it look?”

  
She laid the dress out on her stomach, and her friends burst into laughter. “It suits you, Kagome.” Ayumi smiled, and looked at the mobiles hanging across the aisle. “Have you got a mobile for over the crib yet?”

  
Kagome looked over at them, and shook her head. “No, I can't say I have. I never thought about it, nor did I think they made those anymore.”

  
Yuka sighed wistfully. “You're so lucky, Kagome-chan… Your own little family just starting out, I'm so jealous!!”

  
Kagome was looking at a peculiar mobile; it was different than the others in the fact that it was decorated in more of a Japanese-cultural way. There were small origami cranes, and little crescent moons with rabbits on them, small peaches, strings of cherry blossoms, and on the base of the mobile was a kitsune spirit, mischievously looking over the strands below it. She smiled at the hints at folklore and traditional ways, and thought it fitting to get it. “I like this one. Grandpa would too, he might actually think I listened to his myths once in a while.”

  
The other three women looked at each other and shrugged; it wasn't as cute as some of the other mobiles, but they chalked it up to Kagome's upbringing. Their next stop had the girls looking at things like baby strollers and car seats. They found one that could double as both, with just a few latches separating the carrier from the stroller, and for convenience's sake, bought it and arranged for a delivery at the apartment. Another store was for furniture, but Kagome insisted that there wasn't a need for it; however, she relented at a rocking chair, as InuYasha didn't own anything like it, not even a La-Z-Boy. They were having so much fun laughing and going from store to store that Kagome didn't even realize it was well into the afternoon and they'd only had pretzels earlier. She insisted they stop to eat, as she was also starting to realize her feet were killing her, and they stopped into a nearby restaurant. _I suppose laughter_ **_is_** _the best medicine… I never even noticed my feet hurting, or how hungry I was!_ She thought as they ordered.

  
Yuka rounded on her first. “So, Kagome-chan, how's your lover boy?”

  
Kagome blinked at this sudden change in topics. “Well, when I saw him this morning he looked ok. He's been working a lot lately, though, he got another client added into his repertoire and hasn't made it home much until late.”

  
Her three friends looked at each other with eyebrows raised. Kagome immediately knew what they were thinking. “You guys! InuYasha isn't like that, he would never do something like that to me!”

  
Ayumi spoke first, though quietly. “You were the one who always said he ran off to his ex-girlfriend, Kagome…”

  
The other woman opened her mouth, and then closed it. She thought about it. “It's not her, because she died…” She mused, ignoring the gasps from her friends. “He wouldn't though, not with me being pregnant and nearly ready to give birth…”

  
Eri looked worried. “You guys were broken up though, for a long time…” Kagome bit her tongue, thinking, _You really don't know the half of it…_ , but let her continue. “I mean, who's to say he didn't find another girl in that time? Sure, he could be saying he's working late hours, but you know what they say about the yuppies these days… Starter marriages, it's all about starter marriages, and then they get mistresses, who turn into their real marriages. Or at least their second starter marriages.”

  
Kagome's heart hurt to think about it. InuYasha had told her their mating would last forever, they'd be bonded to one another for life… but had he lied? “He… he wouldn't… I mean, I was right there at that ball when his brother was threatening to add on another set of clients as well as these ones! He couldn't possibly be…”

  
The word `cheating' stuck in her throat. Her friends looked at her with pity. She unconsciously brought her hand up to her swollen stomach, and bit her cheek, thinking about it. She didn't really know what went on in his office, after all. It wasn't as if she was one of those wives who called their husbands at work all the time over mundane things, she knew he had much more to do than worry about her not knowing where something was; she'd just find it herself, and hope she didn't knock anything over in the meantime. However… Her head snapped up. “He hates how the maid moved everything around even after he told her not to, but he kept her on anyway.”

  
Her friends gasped. “How cliché!!” Yuka exclaimed.

  
“The rich man screwing around with his poor maid?! Kagome-chan, have you seen this woman? She'd have to be a real Playboy bunny to surpass you!” Ayumi told her reassuringly.

  
Kagome nodded. “I… I fired her, weeks ago, when she moved something again, when I told her not to… I told her I could keep my own house clean, but I gave her a good send-off check to make up for it…”

  
Eri raised an eyebrow. “Does he know about it?”

  
Kagome shook her head slowly. “No… No, I kept forgetting to tell him, or I purposely didn't because he'd just argue with me about doing housework while pregnant…”

  
Yuka pursed her lips. “Have you guys been… doing anything?”

  
Blushing at her forwardness, Kagome shook her head. “Not lately… he's been working, and I haven't been sleeping well, so I'm usually asleep when he gets home…”

  
The girls looked at each other with suspicious, knowing looks. Kagome bit her lip again, as their food was served. Suddenly, she didn't have an appetite anymore, but she forced herself to eat a bit of the pasta for the baby's sake. Was he really cheating on her?

* * *

  
He'd been surprised at the small amount of packages that were in the apartment, he'd been expecting more, but she'd explained, rather off-handedly, that the bigger things were being delivered within the next week or so, and not to worry about it. Several days later, however, his surprise was more directed not towards the growing number of boxes in their living room, but to what felt like a cold-shoulder treatment from his mate. She'd been distant the last few days, but InuYasha had just thought it was because she was finally getting tired of him working so much. So, he'd made up his mind to make damn sure to be home for dinner the past two nights, and even that hadn't helped. So now he was thinking it was another hormone thing, or a lack of chocolate thing, or some other damned female thing, and he knew he didn't like it one bit.

  
So today was the day he'd unveil his master plan, and hopefully break her distance again. He was coming home extra-early, (it was nearing three), to begin making her favorite foods for a dinner he hoped she wouldn't forget. After nearly tripping over yet another package in the foyer, he was very surprised to see Kagome standing on a small ladder, dusting the higher shelves and Tessaiga. “Wench, what the hell are you doing?!” He exclaimed bounding over the furniture to lift her down to where she wouldn't fall.

  
“It's dangerous, and I've told you a hundred times to let the maid do the cleaning!”

  
He was surprised when she glared at him. “I think I can clean my own damn house, InuYasha! Or haven't you noticed that I fired the maid almost a month ago?”

  
_That_ surprised him. “You… you what? You _fired_ her? In all the gods names, _why_??!”

  
She crossed her arms over her chest, looking ridiculous in her kerchief and feather-duster in hand over her enormous stomach. “You said so yourself, you hated how she moved everything around. Well, I was here one day when she came, and she moved something I told her not to. It irritated me, and so I finally just did what you didn't have the balls to do! If you're wondering, I gave her a nice send-off check to ease the sting of things, though now I'm wondering if I should have at all!”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “What's with that attitude?!”

  
She stomped her foot on the ground. “You know VERY WELL why I should be pissed off at you, you MORON!”

  
His temper flared. “Listen, wench, I don't know what kind of fire ants you have crawling around in your kerchief, pissing you off so much, but you'd better start explaining yourself before I really lose my temper!”

  
She laughed, cruelly. “Oh, HO, so he wants to play coy! Well, mister thinks-he's-so-smart, answer me this: why's it so important that I fired that slut??”

  
InuYasha blinked. “Slut? She wasn't a slut, why are you being like this?”

  
Her cheeks were flushed. “As far as I'm concerned, any woman sleeping with MY husband, who's doing so behind MY BACK, is a slut! You were cheating on me with her!! That's the ONLY reason you'd keep her on! I know it, don't you DARE lie to me! After all those months I spent thinking you were DEAD, here you were having the time of your life with your MAID, for God's sake! I bet you didn't have any freaking second thoughts about me, or this pup, once you found her, did you!?”

  
InuYasha was visibly restraining himself at this point. “Fuck, Kagome, what the fuck gave you that kind of moronic fucking idea that I'd be cheating on you—”

  
His cheek stung as she slapped him. He was shocked right out of being angry at that point: as many times as she'd sat him in the past, he really couldn't remember if she'd ever slapped him; at least, with as much anger and hurt behind it as this one. “You can't even answer my question. Apparently it's… _she's_ really that important…”

  
She was holding back tears at this point, and could only look at him for one moment longer before she fled, slamming the bedroom door behind her. He heard the lock click into place, and then the bathroom door slamming as well. He went to the door, planning on trying a more calm approach to this disastrous dilemma, when he heard her scream in rage and heartache, and a dull thud, which he assumed to be her fist against the wall. Then came the heaving sobs, the ones that made him feel like his heart was being pulled from his chest. He didn't even _do_ anything, and he wanted to submit, to crawl towards her like a bad pup who knew he should be punished, anything to make her stop crying like that. He let his head fall against the locked door, fighting the inner battle of whether to try to comfort her, or let her get it out of her system. His ears pricked, though, as he heard her inhale sharply, then began to moan, muttering something to herself; he couldn't quite make it out, but she sounded like she was in pain. When she cried out, his resolve broke, and he rammed his shoulder into the door once, twice, before it broke. _I can always buy a new fucking door_. “Kagome!”

  
The bathroom door was locked too, but he broke it easier than the bedroom door; he'd only need a new doorknob. Kagome was sitting on the floor, doubled over in a pool of liquid, gasping for breath, and looking frightened. His nose was assaulted with a variety of foreign smells, and he fought the urge to cover it as she looked up at him with wide, scared eyes. “The baby's coming.”


	14. All the Bells and Whistles

The baby's coming.”

  
Her words echoed in his head, and he promptly forgot everything. He even forgot to breathe for a minute or so before his lungs gently reminded him of the need to inhale. He frantically tried to think of something to say, and spouted the first thing that came to mind. “But I was going to make you dinner.”

  
Kagome looked at him with bewilderment. “ _What?”_

  
InuYasha gulped, and mentally kicked himself. “I mean, uh… er… coming? As in like… now? Right here?”

  
She winced as she rocked up on her knees, and shook her head. “Yes, it's coming, but no, not right here. There's still… aaaaah… still a few hours…”

  
She tried to stand, but was slipping on the fluids. He was there in a flash, lifting her bridal-style. “What the fuck is on the floor?”

  
She didn't look at him, and he remembered they were technically supposed to be fighting right now; that is, she was fighting and he was just her whipping boy. “My water broke, that's how you know it's time.”

  
He set her on the bed, and she tried to figure out what they should do first, wondering if she should call her mother yet or not, when he gripped her shoulders and made her look at him. “Before either of us gets a day older, and more definitely before that pup comes into this world, I'm going to tell you right now that I have never, not will I ever, desert you for another woman. Nezumi, that wench you fired, was on her last job with me. She said if she got fired again, she wouldn't be able to work again with her company, nor with several other ones; youkai are peculiar about their maids, and ones with reputations of bad service aren't desirable. That's why I kept her around for so long, whether she moved shit around or not.”

  
Kagome opened her mouth to reply, but her voice was stuck. She looked down, shoulders slumping in defeat. “You're so impossible to be mad at when you're being noble, you know that, right?”

  
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What the fuck gave you the idea I would do something like that in the first place? If anything, I should be pissed because I'm being falsely accused of something!”

  
She looked guilty. “It… Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi…” She whispered shamefully.

  
He bit back a groan. _Those_ wenches again. “Why would they think that?”

  
She still didn't look at him, tracing the pattern on her dress with a finger. “They asked how we were… and I said you were working a lot… All they knew about you was that you were a `two-timing jerk' and you were a `yuppie' now. They were babbling on about starter marriages, and I remembered the maid and how you kept her on even thought you hated how she moved things… It was a mob mentality… and it was set on `he's done it before, he'll do it again'.”

  
InuYasha let out a low growl of frustration. He rested his forehead on hers, making her look at him again. “Kikyou died ages ago. You still think after all this time, just because of her, I'd hurt you like that again?” He asked softly.

  
Her eyes were glassy. “They didn't know. And… InuYasha, she only died a few years ago for me. It's been five hundred years for you, but for me… Until I found you, I had nightmares of her smirking, holding onto you in some fiery pit in hell, and you wouldn't come back with me. You wanted to be with her, not me or…” Her hand drifted up to her panging stomach, and met his. Their fingers intertwined and rested on the mound.

  
His thumb grazed over hers. “I _love_ you, Kagome. You, and this pup, and all the pups we'll have later. Our grand-pups, and even our great-grand-pups. Freaked out about it, yeah, but I'm not willing to give you up again. Not that I was the first time.” He added hurriedly, and she laughed. “Now, can we put this foolishness behind us? And can you stop listening to the stupid ideas your friends babble on about?”

  
She kissed him. “I'm sorry.”

  
He sighed in relief. “Thank God…”

  
Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. “On second thought, maybe you should grovel more.”

  
InuYasha gave her a look of his own. “Fuck that, you already submitted.”

  
Kagome rolled her eyes and shoved at him. “And while we're discussing serious things, you need to stop swearing.”

  
He spluttered for a minute, trying to wrap his mind around the idea. “Wha— but— Why the hell should I?!”

  
“Because, I don't want the pup's first words to be any of your favorite seven words: shit, fuck, damn, pissed, hell, asshole, or bitch! Or any variation of those words!” She fired back at him.

  
He smirked. “So what about c—”

  
She pinched his lips together. “Not either one of those words either. Yes, I know which two you were going to say. I'm going to tell you right now, if this pup says one profane thing before it's at least in middle school, your ears are—aaah…” She cried out, doubling over, trying to breathe normally.

  
She gave a half-sigh, half-whimper when it was over. InuYasha was nervous. “What was that?”

  
She shook her head. “Another contraction… We have time, though, it's still a few hours before anything serious happens…”

  
He nodded, having a feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff, not sure whether he should jump off or not. “Now what do we do?”

  
She took a deep breath. “We need to get my bag together, and call my mother, and Shippou. When I called Rin about the baby names, she told me to let her know as well, so those three. And… ah… well, I guess after that we just have to wait.”

  
He sniffed at her and wrinkled his nose. She blushed. “And clean up a bit too, I think…”

  
He volunteered to handle the phone calls, as she went to the bathroom and spread a towel over the mess she'd made. She smiled to herself as he listened to him talking in the other room, his voice growing more and more excited as he spoke. He didn't notice as she moved carefully into the spare bedroom; all her things were still there, having no room in their bedroom for her clothes, and she heaved her suitcase from the closet, and began filling it with all the necessities. Still listening to her mate, she laughed outright when she heard Rin's excited scream even in the other room, and InuYasha's curses for her blowing out his eardrum. She winced only once, having to grip the dresser to steady herself. She was zipping her suitcase closed when her mate entered the room, and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

  
He was nervous, but her scent soothed him; she had changed clothes, her dress was different, and she didn't smell much like those fluids anymore. She also smelled strongly of the pup, which, while soothing in the way that only pups can be, didn't help too much to ease his mind of the time to come. He remembered Sango's violent labors, when they'd had to keep anything and everything movable out of her reach so she couldn't beat someone with it; her preferred target had been her husband, who had defied the usual traditions of old and stayed near his wife for most of the labor, all eight times. The first time, he'd stayed the whole time, but after nearly having his fingers broken, in addition to a few other vital body parts, he'd opted to wait outside with InuYasha and Shippou at the end during the other seven. “You're not going to hurt me, are you?” He asked her suddenly.

  
Kagome made a questioning noise, leaning back into his comforting arms. He briefly explained his thoughts of Sango and Miroku's childbearing incidences, and she laughed until she cried. She was still giggling and catching her breath, letting him hold her mostly upright, when she answered. “No, I promise I won't. Besides, I don't think I could really hurt you.”

  
Her hold on his arms tightened as she rode out another contraction, and he nuzzled the top of her head soothingly, holding her close. When her hold loosened, she sounded wry. “Don't tell me this turns you on…”

  
She looked back at him, and he looked questioningly at her. Her hand reached back and patted the small box he'd forgotten he'd put in his pocket. She knew immediately when she hit it that it wasn't what she'd originally thought it was. Her heart pounded when he let go of her, and stepped back. Turning to look at him, her heart pounded harder, somewhere in her throat now, when she saw he was on one knee in front of her. “I was going to do this with some sort of ceremony to it tonight… I was going to make you all your favorite foods, and then this…”

  
He pulled the box out of his pocket, and opened it. Her breath caught in her throat; apparently he thought gold and diamonds suited her, as the ring matched the jewelry she already had. The band was simple gold, with several smaller diamonds inset on the sides, and what looked to be at least a carat-sized round-cut diamond perched on the top. “Kagome… will you… will you marry me?”

  
It was so adorably cliché, but she couldn't help but start to cry. He panicked. “Dammit, I'm trying to be romantic here, and you have to go and cry! Stop it!”

  
She gently knelt before him, tugging on a lock of his hair. “I'm crying _because_ you're being romantic, stupid. Why go through this for me? We're already married by your terms.”

  
He blushed. “Well… I thought… maybe you'd want to do it your way too.”

  
Kagome's lip quivered, and she threw herself at him. “You're the most infuriating, wonderfully caring man I've ever met.”

  
Blinking as he caught her, he tilted her chin up to look at him. “So is that a yes?”

  
She hit his knee playfully. “It's always been yes.”

  
He kissed her softly. “I'll put this on you later, when you won't have the urge to punch me with that hand.”

  
Kagome raised an eyebrow. “I told you, I wouldn't!”

  
He smirked. “After being nearby enough to hear most of what went on in the birthing tent, I'm willing to bet you will.”

* * *

  
Mama was wetting her brow with a cool cloth. “It's almost over, sweetheart. You're doing great, it's almost over.”

  
Kagome whimpered, wishing she hadn't had a sudden surge of bravado and refused the drugs. She felt like hell, and wanted to take it out on someone, namely her mate, but Mama had sent him from the room for a while. Rin was outside with him, soothing his frazzled nerves. Kagome had yelled at him something fierce when he'd made some comment, and the poor thing was jittery and wary of his mate now. “I'm so tired, Mama…”

  
Her mother clucked her tongue, and offered her the bowl of ice chips. “You can get all the sleep you want when you're done, I promise, it shouldn't be too much longer now.” The younger woman nodded, resting her head back for a few moments.

  
Dr. Kiyomura breezed into the room. “How are you doing, Kagome?” She asked calmly, finding a fresh pair of gloves.

  
“Well enough that I haven't passed out yet. Is it time-aaaahh!” She cried out as another powerful contraction hit her.

  
The doctor waited patiently for it to be over, keeping track of the length on her watch. “Hmm… we're not quite ready to start the real thing just yet. Let me just take a quick peek… Still looks normal, no problems. I'll be back in a while, it shouldn't be much longer.” She said in her soothing way, and left.

  
InuYasha cautiously poked his head in the room, and was alarmed to see his mate looking pale and sweating. “Is she alright?” He asked.

  
Mama smiled at him. “She's fine, she's just starting to get into the hard parts.”

  
Kagome groaned. “It's been hard enough, I don't need anymoooore—” She hissed through her teeth as another contraction hit, trying to remember how she was supposed to breathe; Mama looked at the clock. It had barely been two minutes since the last one.

  
He cautiously walked over to her. He smoothed her hair away from her sweating face, and took up the cool cloth Mama had left in the pan of water. “You wanna try to walk again?” He asked quietly.

  
She shook her head, breathing heavily. She was starting to shake, and that worried him. She cried out again, leaning forward. Mama looked at the clock again. “I'm getting the doctor, she's close…”

  
InuYasha watched her go, feeling tense again, not having any idea of what was going on, or what to do. She was starting to cry again. “I can't… It hurts too much, I can't…”

  
Growling, he leapt up behind her, moving so that she rested against him instead of the bed. “Here, I'm right here, it's alright.” He tried to make his voice stay as calm as possible, though it wasn't sure where her shaking ended and his began. “You're… you're doing good, Kagome, it's only a big longer.” She hissed in pain again, and he reached up to rub her shoulders, trying anything to calm her down. She relaxed into his hold, her breathing shaky.

  
She tensed again, and his ears pinned themselves to his skull as she screamed. Dr. Kiyomura and what looked like a small army of nurses came hurrying in, followed by Mama. “Well, looks like I left the party too soon.” The doctor attempted a joke, only to be glowered at by her patient's mate.

  
InuYasha took both of her hands in his, to keep her from possibly lashing out. She redoubled her grip over his hands, and he clenched his teeth together as she gave them a death-grip. Her knuckles were white, and despite his discomfort, he was impressed at her strength. She was screaming again, and he wondered if his hearing would ever be the same. He winced as her grip, somehow, tightened, and caught Mama's amused, yet pitying look at him. Dr. Kiyomura was looking under the sheet again, and he growled possessively; Kagome's grip relaxed briefly, and she was crying out how she couldn't do it anymore. “You're almost ready to push, Kagome.” The doctor told her.

  
“Hear that, wench? It's almost done, you can do it, just a bit more and we'll have our pup.” He remembered Rin telling him to cut the bullshit and just encourage her. “Just squeeze my hands when it hurts, you're almost there.”

  
She screamed again, and he sucked in a breath of his own as he lost all feeling in his fingers. It was just as well, at least they didn't hurt now.

  
“You're crowning!” Dr. Kiyomura exclaimed, and Kagome fell back against her mate's chest with a whimper. She was breathing heavily, and he kissed her head in reassurance. “Almost there, koi.” He told her.

  
She nodded. The doctor looked up at her. “You ready to push?” Kagome took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She nodded again. “Alright. Ready? And… push!”

  
The next half hour was the most agonizing of his life. His mate was alternately screaming like a banshee, or gasping for air like she'd just swum across the Pacific. InuYasha was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to feel his hands for at least a week, and he'd have a permanent ringing noise in his ears. She'd said something at one point during a break, in short gasps, and he'd had to ask her to repeat it. He immediately regretted it: “We are NEVER… EVER… having sex AGAIN.”

  
He must have paled, because all of the other women in the room laughed. Mama smiled reassuringly, mouthing `She lies' at him, which made him feel better. He braced himself when she inhaled deeply, and leaned forward with her. She cried out, and they dipped slightly, as a higher-pitched wail filled the room. His nose was assaulted with the scent of blood, and he hid it in her sweaty hair; Kagome and sweat was better than Kagome and blood. Mama was handed a pair of scissors, and curious as he was about what she was going to do with them, he leaned back when Kagome fell against him. The high-pitched wail ceased slightly, and he saw a bundle being taken to a table across the room. He focused on his mate, who was ashen, and kissed her forehead, and then her cheek, stroking her sweaty hair from her face.

  
One of the nurses was smiling as she brought the bundle back. “Congratulations, it's a girl.”

  
Kagome broke into a huge smile, and the nurse gently placed the bundle into her arms. InuYasha cautiously moved his own arms under hers, and looked down at his daughter. She was fussing slightly, but he knew she'd calm down soon, once she knew her parents' scents; Rin and Sesshou-maru's girls had been the same way. “Izayoi…” Kagome said softly, stroking the small girl's cheek.

  
He couldn't speak, only moved the blanket down from her head. His mate sighed happily at the two small, floppy puppy ears on top of her head; instead of being pure white, however, the tips were black, and the right ear had a black patch near the bottom. What fuzzy hair she had was grayish, though Kagome expected it would go one way or the other in the next few months. Izayoi fussed again, opening her eyes for a minute; both her parents gasped at the dark violet eyes that stared back. Kagome looked at her husband, and he shrugged. “Apparently my human genes passed on too.”

  
Mama came over, as most of the staff began to leave. “She'll be a beauty when she grows up…” She commented, smiling happily at her puppy-eared grandchild.

  
“Keh. `Course she will, she's Kagome's daughter, ain't she?” InuYasha said proudly.

  
Kagome giggled as she moved her hospital gown to feed the fussy pup. “You say that now, but I really can't wait until she starts dating…”

  
Her mate had nothing to say to that, but from the look on her mother's face, he was apparently taking in that `someday' possibility. The pup quieted as she began to nurse, and Kagome had to adjust to the feeling; she leaned into her mate's embrace, as Mama stood. “I'm sure Rin's dying to know what's going on. I'll send her in a few minutes, let you three get to know one another.” She told them, and left.

  
The only sounds were from Izayoi's nursing. InuYasha simply kissed his mate's forehead again. When she switched breasts, he reached down and ran a finger lightly down his daughter's face; he briefly wondered if he was getting a just reward from the gods for tormenting his brother about a male-less empire, but quickly decided he didn't care. He was just happy the pup was here, she was whole and healthy, and her mother was happy with her ears. “You did good, Kagome.” He told her finally.

  
“It wasn't just me… you helped out there too.” She teased him slightly.

  
He gave a bark of a laugh. “I wasn't the one screaming my head off back there. Or carrying our pup… or helping you through a lot of this…”

  
She twisted her head around to look him square in the eyes. “Don't go moping on yourself again. We're together now, and that's all that matters. You, me, and Izayoi.”

  
He nuzzled her. “And our future pups.”

  
Her voice was wry. “Not for a few years. I don't think I can do that for a while… or start this little girl off right otherwise.” She laughed as she felt him sigh in relief, and felt Izayoi finish.

  
She sat up, and asked for the cloth from earlier, and had him spread it on her shoulder while she burped the baby. InuYasha slid out of the bed, needing to stretch and not be in the way of baby spit. When she was done, Kagome smiled up at him. “You want to hold her?”

  
He paled. “What? I can't hold her, no!”

  
Though she'd been expecting it, Kagome rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “I need to rest, and you need to get to know her. I've had her to myself for nine months, it's your turn for a while.”

  
Cautiously, InuYasha remembered the right way to hold his pup; it was much more daunting to hold his own child than it had ever been to hold one of Miroku's, or one of Sesshou-maru's. His mate smiled tiredly at him. “Look at you… big daddy.” He flushed as she fell asleep, worn out. His daughter was the same, already asleep from her big entrance and her feast.

  
Rin crept into the room, seeing that the new mother and the baby were already asleep. “Let me seeee!!”

  
He had no idea how she was able to squeal and whisper at the same time, but they both sat down in the plastic chairs in the room, and he was able to give his sister-in-law a better look at her niece. “She's perfect.” Rin said softly, running a gentle, perfectly manicured finger along the newborn's ear. “And she's got spots, that's different.”

  
He chuckled. “It's cute.”

  
He heard her grin. “Look at you, going all soft and using words like `cute'! She's only been here twenty minutes too! I'll have to remember to get all the girly games for her when she's old enough to play with them, I'd die to see you playing _Pretty, Pretty Princess_.”

  
InuYasha bit back a groan, and thought darkly of how lucky a bastard his brother was to have grown women for daughters by the time such atrocities had been invented. “And I know you'll take pictures too…” He grumbled, and she laughed softly.

  
“Sesshy's here too, I told him to wait outside, in case she was still feeding.” InuYasha barely had time to wonder at his brother actually being there before he did one of his usual gracefully-annoying entrances.

  
Without a word, the youkai stared down at his brother, and the small pup in his arms. The brothers regarded each other carefully, until InuYasha stood. He offered Izayoi to him, and Sesshou-maru reached out, and gently took his niece in both hands, shifting her and cradling the pup with a gentleness InuYasha wouldn't have guessed he possessed, had he not seen him with his own pups. “Nishi Izayoi… a fitting honor to your mother, InuYasha…” The youkai said coolly.

  
InuYasha wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not, but merely nodded in reply. A nurse came in with a plastic bassinet, and was slightly taken aback by the two silver-haired brothers. “M-My apologies, but we need to take the baby to the nursery now.” She stammered.

  
InuYasha took his girl from her uncle, and placed her in the bassinet. He touched her cheek again, and she turned her head to his touch; he smiled. “We'll see you soon, pup.”

  
Rin pouted as the nurse took Izayoi away. “No fair, Sesshy got to hold her before me!”

  
InuYasha fought the urge to roll his eyes, and Sesshou-maru rested a hand on his mate's shoulder. “You will have plenty of chances, Rin.” He told her, and they made to leave. He looked back at InuYasha before he exited, and said, “I've moved the Americans, the French, and the Spanish accounts to one of my assistants.”

  
The hanyou let his head fall back in relief after they left. That would be the best gift his brother would ever give him, but for now all that mattered was his workload was less, he had a beautiful girl-pup, and all he wanted to do was fall asleep next to his exhausted Kagome.


	15. The Beginning

Izayoi was born on September 4th, 2001, ten days before her original due date. Despite her early birth, she weighed seven pounds, and was nineteen inches long from head to foot. She was an unusual pup, much more alert and awake than her parents had expected, observing what she could of the small world she was introduced to with her wide violet eyes. Her ears, while still somewhat limp, were almost always twitching, both for strengthening the muscles and from all the noise of the nursery and hearing her family speak. Around one of her ankles was an ornate silver bracelet, to hide her youki. Her gray fuzz turned black, her eyes changed to match her mother's, and her ears were normal; while InuYasha was pleased that the pup looked like her mother, Kagome much preferred her true form, and kept the bracelet off for the most part. A week after her birth, she and her mother were sent home with full bills of health under the watchful eyes of her father.

  
InuYasha had made up the crib in the spare bedroom in the time his wife and pup had recovered, though it was against his better judgment. He would have preferred the pup to be more nearby, but Kagome had said it was just in the next room, and she would be fine without them hovering over her constantly. For the most part, their lives returned to normal, with the small changes of InuYasha working less and making it home for dinner every night now, and Kagome had more to do with taking care of Izayoi during the day. Her mate had suggested taking her for short walks outside in the afternoons, to help her adjust to the smells and sounds of Tokyo more quickly, but Kagome never ventured further than their block, fearing that too much exposure might cause some damages. The pup only fussed when they were outside, and unless she was hungry or wet, was one of the calmest newborns Kagome had ever known of. She didn't question it though, fearing if she did, her next pup would be the fussiest in the world.

  
The first major problem they ran into was at dawn, a few weeks after they'd brought her home. Izayoi screamed as if she was in pain, and that alone brought both Kagome and InuYasha into her room at a run. Their pup's hair was pitch black, her ears were normal, and she was crying like she'd never cried before. They looked at each other, and InuYasha went to get the lunar calendar, while Kagome tried to calm the pup down. “She turns human at _dawn_?” Kagome asked over the wails.

  
InuYasha shrugged, his own ears pinned to his head as he looked at the date. “First quarter-moon.” He told her loudly. “Her day is the first-quarter moon.”

  
She pursed her lips, rubbing the bawling pup's back soothingly. “Why's she crying like this?”

  
He held out his hands, and she let him take her. Cradling her against his chest, he made a low, rumbling growl, and the wails lessened, turning into big tears and quiet hiccups. His ears lifted hopefully, and she stared up at him with frightened, wide eyes. “She's scared.” He said quietly between growls.

  
Kagome waited until her daughter had stopped crying. InuYasha rocked back and forth on his heels soothingly, and the crying stopped, but the pup did not sleep. “Her senses are basically gone now. Even if they're not really developed yet, not having them makes her think something's wrong. I'd better take the day off; she'll feel better if we're both nearby.”

  
Kagome nodded. They went into the living room, and tried to strap her into her small bouncing seat, but the moment she wasn't being touched any more, she started crying again. Her mother sighed, and lifted her up against her as she went to the table. “She's probably hungry too.” InuYasha commented, and Kagome nodded; he went to get their own breakfast, while she started Izayoi on hers.

  
She's just switched when he returned with the tray, and set her juice and a bowl of warm oatmeal in front of her. He watched her holding their daughter tenderly; he'd already known she would make a good mother, but watching her in the actual act made him want to rut her into the ground and start the whole process over again. However, they'd abstained from more intimate activities in the last few weeks. He still smelled her blood, and it made him edgy, though when he'd brought it up the first time, she had mentioned that it was normal, and it would last a few weeks. The thought if possibly hurting her more had also caused him to keep to an affectionate nuzzle, or a kiss, or holding her while they slept.

  
It appeared that even as afraid as she was supposed to be, even Izayoi couldn't overcome the sleepiness that came with a full belly. Kagome sighed in relief when she fell asleep after her burping, and gently settled her in her lap. “I'm afraid she'll wake up if I try and put her in her chair.” She explained as she moved her bowl to a spot where any wayward oatmeal wouldn't fall on the sleeping pup.

  
InuYasha nodded. It was the start of a very long day. He tried to get some work done in his home office, just for the sake of it, but when she woke, Izayoi was fussy again, and refused to calm down unless both her parents were nearby. That ended that idea; instead, they decided to spend the rest of the day with Kagome's family, hoping that all the attention would reassure the pup that everything was normal. Luckily, Souta happened to have excellent baby-cheering-up skills, by building things with the small blocks Kagome had packed in the baby bag and then knocking them down for his niece's amusement. Mama watched as Izayoi burbled in delight as Souta reset his small mountain. “She's so advanced for her age… She's not even a month old yet!”

  
InuYasha shrugged, leaning against his mate's legs on the floor. “Pups grow fast, it's their natures. I hate to say it, but it's like dog puppies. They grow a lot in the first few months; by the time she's six months old or so, I expect she'll be talking a bit, and starting to walk. That's how my brother's pups were, anyway, though they were half-demon, not a quarter.”

  
Mama looked thoughtful at that. “We might do well to buy larger clothes for her then; she'll probably get bigger faster too.”

  
Again, the hanyou shrugged; Sesshou-maru's pups had all worn kimono, which were easily lengthened and shortened, so he'd never paid attention to how fast they'd grown. He leaned into Kagome's touch: she was absently playing with his ears. “Will we have to start her in school earlier than most children?” She asked, not having considered the possibility.

  
“Not really. She'll start to age slower, more normally like a human, in a few years, and it'll move at a snail's pace once she's around sixteen or seventeen.” He explained.

  
It made sense; InuYasha's own teenage years had lasted for around two hundred years, not counting the years he'd been sealed to the tree, though Kagome didn't know how much longer he'd been that way. They started when Izayoi burbled loudly, and tumbled forward off of Souta's lap, attempting to reach for a block. InuYasha had picked her up before she had even registered she was hurt and should start crying, but no more than a few big tears had fallen before she was calmed by her father's low, soothing growls. “I'm sorry; I loosened my grip for just a second!” Souta apologized frantically.

  
Kagome reached over and patted her brother on the shoulder calmly. “She's not hurt, she's just startled, it's alright. You've kept her calmer most of the day than we were thinking she'd be.”

  
Souta's worried expression vanished, and was replaced by an embarrassed smile. “Well, uncles are supposed to be good to their nieces…” He mumbled. His sister beamed.

* * *

  
The next big surprise was one afternoon in November. Izayoi was playing her favorite game, drop her toys just out of reach, and whine until her mother picked them back up for her. Kagome had rearranged the living room to a `baby-safe-zone', with the coffee tables now tucked against the walls, and a bigger, open space for the two to play such a game in the middle of all the furniture. The pup now had lighter gray fuzz on her head, and her ears were always following her parent's movements. She was big for two months, and InuYasha said she was probably around the same aging frame as a five-month old human child, if not a little more. Sheer will and determination had let her sit up by herself for small periods of time, though after the first fall, Kagome had now placed some of their big, plush pillows on her sides and behind her. She'd also remarked on their pup's stubbornness, glancing wryly at her husband as she said so. “Oh please, like I'm the only stubborn one around here.” He'd replied, taking his turn in the game.

  
“No, but I'm pretty sure I haven't fallen down a hundred times, injuring myself along the way, and still refused to give up, even though all the odds were against me accomplishing what I wanted to do.”

  
He'd given her a look afterwards, but silently agreed that his daughter had probably inherited the `don't-know-you're-dead-so-don't-lie-down' genes.

  
Kagome had picked up Izayoi's bear for what felt like the millionth time that afternoon when the phone rang. “I'll be right back, sweetie.” She told the pup, and went to answer.

  
She just made it to the couch when her daughter whimpered. Glancing back, the bear was two feet from her. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “In a minute, honey, let Mama answer the phone.”

  
She hurried over to the receiver and picked it up. “Hello?”

  
- _Kagome-neechan! It's Rin, how are you?_ —

  
Kagome smiled. “Hi Rin, you just caught me in the middle of your niece's favorite pick-up-my-toy game.”

  
- _Oh, how exciting. I think it's a family thing,_ _Mina and Aya were the same._ — Rin was referring to her middle daughters, Minami and Ayako, who were currently out of town and had not met their new cousin yet; her other daughters, Sanae and Kotomi, the eldest and youngest, respectively, had met both their aunt and their cousin when Kagome had gone to Rin with questions about mothering a hanyou.

  
“I'm sure it is, she also seems to have inherited our husbands' stubborn attitudes… She's sitting up on her own already, have I told you?” Kagome asked absently.

  
- _Yes, that sounds about right. Anyway, I was calling to ask you about InuYasha-niichan's birthday next month—_

  
Izayoi's happy shrieking giggle drowned out what Rin had to say next, and Kagome whirled around to see her baby crawling towards the discarded bear. “Oh my GOD, she's crawling!!” Kagome exclaimed, rushing over just in time for the pup to collapse with a surprised squeal on top of the plush bear.

  
She scooped up her daughter, who was clutching to the bear with all her strength. “You're just a bundle of energy, aren't you? Wanting to crawl before every other child your age… I'm sorry, Rin, what were you saying?”

  
Rin giggled on the other end. _-It's ok, Neechan. Would you want to do something for InuYasha-niichan's birthday next month?—_

  
Kagome hefted Izayoi up higher, and thought about it. “How about just a quiet family dinner? Well, a family dinner. Quiet won't happen with InuYasha and Sesshou-maru in the same room together.”

  
Rin chattered agreeably, saying she'd arrange everything, and that she'd call when things were set up. Her sister-in-law agreed, and they hung up, just as Izayoi squealed and dropped her bear again. She whimpered, looking up at her mother with her pleading puppy eyes. Kagome sighed, and bent down to get it. Again.

* * *

  
The winter solstice dawned dimly, but even the smallest hint of sunlight caused InuYasha to throw his pillow over his face and reach sleepily for his mate. His arm met cool air and a cooling side of the mattress. “K'gome…?” He mumbled, opening one eye sleepily, wondering where she was.

  
He had his answer when she and his pup pounced on the bed. “Good morning, love!” She chirped cheerfully, Izayoi cooing along with her.

  
He groaned and sat up, leaning against their still-enormous pile of pillows. Kagome lifted their pup in front of him, waving her chubby little arm as she spoke in a quiet falsetto. “Happy birthday, Otou! Happy birthday!!”

  
Izayoi smiled, and InuYasha couldn't help but smile back. “Keh, my birthday's nothing special.”

  
Kagome frowned, and moved the pup's arm forward to swat at his nose; Izayoi grabbed it, giggling. Her new favorite activity had become grabbing onto things, especially her father's hair. “Otou shouldn't talk like that! Bad Otou!”

  
InuYasha gently removed her hand, rubbing the offended appendage. “Ow, pup, that hurts Otou.” He scolded gently.

  
She continued to smile obliviously. “Dou!” She cried, reaching for him.

  
Kagome's eyes widened. “Did she…?”

  
Numbly, he reached and took her into his arms. “That's right… Otou's right here.”

  
“Dou!” She exclaimed again, reaching for his hair.

  
Kagome quickly moved his hair out of her reach, as InuYasha rubbed his daughter's ears. She sighed, going limp against him. “Thanks, pup…” He murmured, thinking it was the best birthday present he'd ever received. His mate lay next to him, smiling softly, and he slung an arm around her, content to spend the morning with his two favorite girls in the world.

* * *

  
Dinner that night was, surprisingly, calm. Kagome expected that Rin had had a word about behaving to her mate, just as she'd had her own words with hers. Izayoi had returned to her normal nonsense babbling, keeping up her own kind of running commentary throughout the meal. All four of Sesshou-maru's daughters were present, and all but Kotomi spent the first half of the meal squealing over Izayoi's cuteness. Shippou and Itazura were also there, along with their daughters Ophelia, Rochelle, Geneva, Odette, and Leala, as they were `home for the holidays', as Itazura had put it. Kagome really had no idea which kitsune was which, as the five girls were identical, but she supposed she'd figure it out eventually. The restaurant they ate in was very traditional Japanese; she was soothed at the feel of medieval Japan. Izayoi kept trying to have a bite of her own, until Kagome fed her some rice; after that, she was content to sit in her carrier and play with the hanging plastic shapes above her.

  
“Ojichan, we got you a present!” Minami chirped excitedly after the meal.

  
His other nieces nodded, and Kotomi silently went to their coats and brought out a short package. InuYasha idly wondered what it was this time; every couple of decades, his nieces pooled together and bought him some sort of traditional weapon. Last time had been a collection of shuriken, and the time before that had been an elegantly smithed naginata. Without a word, Kotomi bowed respectfully before him and slid the package forward. Sanae and Ayako had their own quiet smiles, while Minami was practically bouncing in her kneeling position from excitement. Carefully unwrapping it, InuYasha opened the carved-wood box to see a short knife sitting in its sheath on a velvet surface. He took it and unsheathed it, admiring the tempered steel; he plucked a hair from his head and gently laid it across the edge, where it cleanly sliced the silver thread without much pressure. “It is a tanto.” Kotomi said in her quiet, educated voice. “Happy birthday, ojisan.”

  
He was touched by her quick show of affection, a kiss on the cheek and a small smile, before returning to her usual soft seriousness. “Thank you.” He told them, and they grinned back, telling him it was nothing.

  
Itazura took an envelope out of her purse, and handed it to him. “And here's our present.” She said with a wink.

  
InuYasha opened it, and his eyes widened. Kagome smiled, already knowing what it was. He didn't miss that. “Are you sure?” He asked, a little worried.

  
She laid a comforting hand on her mate's arm. “We've got everything worked out, Iza will be fine with Shippou and Itazura. They'll stay in the apartment with her, we've got it all worked out.”

  
He suddenly grinned wolfishly at her. “You planned this, didn't you?”

  
Kagome looked innocent. “I had no more to do with it than you did. Itazura merely suggested it, and I agreed.”

  
He kissed her forehead, and looked at the two kitsune. “Thanks.”

  
Itazura had her usual mischievous grin. “Have fun, you two!”

* * *

  
“InuYasha!!” Kagome squealed as he dropped her on the hotel bed. She giggled as he nosed his way around her shirt, taking in her scent. When he reached her neck, he rested there for a moment, enjoying the feel of her skin against his lips. “You're wearing too much.” He murmured against her skin, and she shivered at the sultry sound of his voice.

  
Almost before she could blink, he had her top off and was working at her bra. She gasped at the feeling of his claws on her skin; he covered her mouth with his, and she moaned against him, melting in his arms. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, and they battled playfully as her bra was removed, and Kagome's hands found their way to the buttons of his shirt.

  
He shrugged out of it, not breaking their kiss once, and lifted her up to press their bare chests together; her legs wrapped themselves around his waist, and he groaned as her core pressed up hard against his throbbing erection. He felt her smile against his lips, and moaned deep in his throat as she ground into him. He could smell her spiking arousal, which only further, if possible, hardened his own. He broke their kiss to drop her onto the bed; her eyes were glassy, lips puffy and her face was flushed. He growled in approval, and swiftly cut through her dress pants and panies with his claws. He silenced her with one clawed finger. “I'll buy you new ones.” He grunted, and any reply she might have had was cut off by her choked cry as she slid two fingers into her warm, wet heat. She whimpered as he pulled out and pushed back in slowly, rubbing her clit with the side of his thumb. Her hips bucked unconsciously at the fizzling pleasure he sent coursing through her body.

  
His fangs grazed the shell of her ear, down to the side of her neck. She moaned as he ran his tongue back up the path he'd just made. “You like that, don't you bitch?” He murmured huskily into her ear.

  
She shivered again, nodding. “What is it exactly that you like?” He nibbled on her earlobe, and ran his tongue along the curve of her ear.

  
She gasped as his thumb grazed the side of her clit again. He smirked, kissing his way up her pulse line. “That's not an answer…”

  
He slid a third finger inside of her, and her hips bucked again. “You like that?”

  
She nodded, unable to speak. “Then you wouldn't like it if I did…” He pulled out all the way, and she whimpered. “Answer me, and I'll do it again.”

  
She swallowed hard, trying to see past the stars in her vision. “You… inside me…” She gasped.

  
He smirked. “What was what?”

  
His arrogant tone made her head clear a bit, and she tried to glare at him. “You being inside of me. Now do it, please!!”

  
He licked at her jaw. “I think I like it when you beg… I'll have to make you do it again…”

  
Kagome half-whined, half-groaned, but he didn't satisfy her just yet. She whimpered when he moved away from her, licking his fingers clean. “You still taste good.” He said with a smirk.

  
He swiftly undid his belt and dress pants, trying not to sigh with relief when his erection sprang free of their confines. InuYasha then leaned over his mate, kissing his way up her legs, licking at the insides of her thighs, and plunged his tongue into her core. She choked back a scream of pleasure, as his tongue mimicked what he planned to do with another part of his body later. He slid out, running long, slow licks up the outside of her core, adding pressure to her swollen clit. Her fingers tangled themselves in his mane of silvery hair, and found his ears. He moaned when she rubbed the bases, leaning into her soft touch as she worked her way up to the tips. He left her core, kissing the nest of curls covering it, and kissed and licked his way up her stomach. He marveled at how she'd gone back to being so thin after Izayoi had been born, and nuzzled her soft skin, dipping his tongue into her belly button.

  
When he reached her breasts, he wasn't sure if she was up to the sweet torture he wanted to place upon them. Glancing up at her, he cautiously licked the sides. She sighed happily, reaching down and running her nails along his back; he felt goosebumps rising at the feeling, and shuddered. He kissed her nipples, waiting for a reaction; when none came, he cautiously ran his tongue in a circle around one, raising an eyebrow her gasp. “Good?” He murmured, his warm breath puffing against her heated skin.

  
“A little… maybe we shouldn't… shouldn't do that tonight…” She said, and he kissed her soft mounds in apology.

  
He was just licking his way up her pulse again when her small hand found his throbbing member. InuYasha hissed as her cool touch grasped him, and slowly began to pump. His teeth found the crook of her neck, and he had to restrain from marking her again at the waves of pleasure crashing through him. “K…Kagome… If you… stop please…” He gasped, and she moved her hand away.

  
He kissed her softly, then positioned himself at her entrance. “I love you…” She said softly.

  
He sheathed himself inside of her with one quick thrust, and they both cried out, shuddering at the sensation. Tears slipped down her face, and his heart stopped; had he hurt her? She saw the worry piercing his eyes, and smiled reassuringly. “I… I missed you… missed this…”

  
“We're one again.” He told her softly, and slowly began to pull out. They started slowly, and the pace was making him crazy. He wanted to pound into her, breaking the bed if need be, but he would wait until she said so, for what she wanted. Kagome raised an eyebrow at him when he looked at her. “Hard and fast.”

  
It was all he needed to hear. He picked up the pace, almost slamming into her, feeling her walls ripple around his length in anticipation. She cried out, wrapping her legs around him to give him deeper access to her. He slowed for a moment, unhooking her legs almost as soon as they'd gone up, and flipped her around, entering her from behind.

  
She marveled at the new position, feeling him enter her deeper than before, and her arms began to shake, feeling something coiling up inside of her. His pace never slowed, and the coil snapped, sending wave after wave of pure, hot pleasure though her body. She screamed his name, and he came howling not a moment after, spilling his seed into her as her walls constricted around him, milking him dry.

  
Kagome's arms gave out, and she collapsed on the bed. He fell with her, just as sweaty. Not wanting to leave them separate again, he stayed inside of her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against him snugly. He kissed her shoulder as they both caught their breath. “I love you…” She whispered again, and he growled deep in his chest.

  
“I love you, mate.” He murmured in her ear, pulling the blankets down beneath them and covering them both with it. He felt his mate go limp as she slipped into sleep, exhausted by their passionate lovemaking. He smirked slightly before falling asleep himself, wondering how much longer it would be until Izayoi had a younger sibling.

  



End file.
